LOS ANGELES — Jayson Tatum drove into Ivica Zubac and got blocked. He missed a layup. He missed a three, then threw a pass away to John Wall as the team’s bench units rotated in. Tatum shot 2-for-7 in the first quarter as the Celtics fell behind by nine points into the second.
Marcus Smart sensed teammates playing tense two nights earlier in San Francisco. The team brushed it off as one of 82 games, but it became two on Monday, the Celtics’ first losing streak since October. The Clippers led by as many as 24 points and controlled their 113-93 win over the Celtics throughout the second half. Offensive habits — running ahead of the defense, creating second-level actions, screening and cutting — dissipated as Boston’s three-point shooting regressed to 23.1%. It didn’t look the same, and Tatum admitted it didn’t feel the same.
“We didn’t have fun tonight, we didn’t have fun against Golden State, whether there’s fatigue, whatever it is, or maybe playing a little too tense,” Tatum said. “We’re not perfect, we’re not gonna be perfect and I think we want to be perfect so bad, we’ve been playing so well this season that when we haven’t these last two games, it’s felt a little bit worse … we got to get back to having fun. It wasn’t fun in Golden State, it wasn’t fun tonight. Just the way we’ve been playing, right? We’re gonna lose some games, but we’ve just gotta have fun. It’s basketball, we get paid a lot of money, we shouldn’t be that tense. It’s not the Finals, it’s not the playoffs, it’s December 12, this shit won’t matter in four months, but we’ve gotta have fun along the way.”
Marcus Morris and Paul George hit first-quarter threes that put the Celtics behind for good, other than a brief stretch in the second quarter. Sets like Derrick White and Blake Griffin connecting on the pick-and-pop before Griffin swung to Malcolm Brogdon for a three waned.
Others, where Griffin, Brogdon and Jaylen Brown settled for jump shots, increased. The Clippers started 11-for-19 to prevent Celtics transition baskets entirely and Boston only scored one fast break point in the entire game.
Brown and Brodgon scored 39 points, and only served eight assists and turned the ball over six times in a game where the Celtics committed 15. Brogdon and others allowed defenders to cut off telegraphed passes. They struggled to space the floor with Griffin and Luke Kornet filling center minutes again in Al Horford’s absence.
Worse, the Clippers employed a tactic similar to the Warriors, running the Celtics off the line, then rotating inside with wing size on the floor at every position. Morris, George, Kawhi Leonard, Terance Mann and Nic Batum logged heavy minutes. Batum chased Tatum off-ball and denied passes to the Celtics star.
“I didn’t feel like my shot was off,” Grant Williams told CLNS Media after finishing 4-for-7 (1/3 3PT). “As a shooter, you’re gonna be confident either way. You’ve got to take the looks that are open, but in the event that teams run you off the line, you have to do a good job of play-making and making sure you make the right decision downhill and make the right play for everyone around you. We just have to do that as a group. We get downhill, we’ve done our job.”
“We’ve put pressure on the defense, we’ve done our job to make sure the defense collapsed, now we have to just make the right decision on who we want to pass the ball to after, kicking it out, making sure that the second the read is, do we shoot that, or is there one more best available? And I think that’s what we’ve got to get back to on the offensive end of the ball, because we’re doing our job and making sure we create that advantage, but we’ve been forcing a little bit.”
Williams struggled with those decisions about whether to shoot or attack closeouts early, then the Celtics inverted their offense with Griffin directing traffic above the arc while Tatum and Williams attacked the rim. Brown and Tatum scored baskets at the rim early in the third, but George and Leonard buried threes and extended the Clippers’ lead to 14.
Grant attacked Leonard twice and cut the lead to 10, then he took a handoff from Luke Kornet to dump to Tatum at the rim. The stretch propelled Grant and Tatum to 34 points, but didn’t hurt LA.
Joe Mazzulla played the regulars deep into the fourth quarter and admitted the Celtics are still trying to find combinations to beat switchable opponents. The Warriors and Clippers neutralized Boston’s previously historic offense by cutting off space at the three-point line and negating the screening game, and the Celtics devolved to slow-paced isolation. Grant provides an intriguing outlet, and Boston needs his touch inside even when Horford is available as the 25th-ranked team at getting to the rim (26.5 att.).
Brown and Tatum said foul trouble slowed them. Soon, officiating frustrated them, as Grant accepted responsibility for giving up an open Luke Kennard three while complaining in the fourth. As Mann lost the ball out-of-bounds inside, Grant and Noah Vonleh screamed at an official before Mann caught a pass and scored. His block on Tatum to end the third sent a once Celtics-dominated crowd into a frenzy for the Clips.
“They showed me a lot of different looks. I think you’ve just got to make quicker decisions. Any time you catch the ball,” Tatum said. “Batum was staying with me coming the court, even if I didn’t have the ball. Making quicker decisions and attacking, not giving them a chance to load up or to come double. Things I’ve just got to be better at.”
