Some people say that superior NBA teams don’t pay too much attention to games in March so maybe that’s why the Boston Celtics lost on Monday night.
That’s really the only explanation for why the Celtics, the second-best team in the East, fell to the Houston Rockets, who hold one of the worst records in the entire league.
Following the shocking 111-109 defeat at the hands of the Rockets, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla addressed what went wrong.
Speaking to NBC Sports Boston, Mazzulla said, “The free throws, the rebounding, the turnovers, the second chances…it’s concerning.”
That is definitely what fans are saying on Tuesday morning.
"The free throws, the rebounding, the turnovers, the second chances… It's concerning"
Joe Mazzulla addresses new concerns with the Celtics after loss to Rockets pic.twitter.com/FJkyad7Adz
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 14, 2023
Mazzulla is certainly right when bringing up the team’s weak points from Monday.
The Celtics had 13 turnovers, which isn’t much higher than their average number.
However, many of these turnovers led to points for the Rockets, which put Boston in a deeper hole.
When it came to second-chance points, the Rockets were dominant over the Celtics.
They were also conquered in the paint too, as they were outscored 54-50 in that part of the court.
And Boston was cold from the three-point line, landing just 12 of their 42 attempts.
All in all, the Celtics had numerous problems on Monday night and each of them added up to a shocking defeat.
The Celtics will now try to bounce back from this loss as they face off against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, before the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz this weekend.
The team knows where they went wrong and they know what they need to work on.
Now, fans are going to anxiously wait to see if they avoid another night like this one.
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