The Celtics appeared to have earned their 12th straight victory Tuesday night in Cleveland.
But Boston slowed down too early and the Cavaliers made the visitors pay.
The Cs inflated their 99.9% likely to win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse when a Jayson Tatum bucket with nine minutes left gave Boston a 22-point lead. But the best team in the NBA, which had not lost since February 1, allowed the Cavs, without Donovan Mitchell, to storm back and finally secure a 105-104 victory.
After the game, All-Star guard Jaylen Brown issued justified criticism from his team for his poor effort at the end of the match.
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“We’re a much better team than we showed today, and today was just a loss of mentality, I think,” Brown told reporters, according to MassLive. “We had the game and then we felt comfortable, so it was more about mindset than Xs-and-Os. We just have to be the most disciplined and militant team to be focused. We weren’t that – usually we are – and we felt that today and I think that’s why they were able to come back into the game, because our mindset was a little too lax and we were too careless with the ball. .”
Brown added: “You put yourself in that situation when you don’t put a team away, don’t match the gas. We should have matched the gas when we were up at 22. We kind of left them hanging out, it was chilly and the coziness would kill you. And I think we needed that. I think it’s good, it keeps us alert and allows us to learn and move forward.
It was probably time for a reality check for the Celtics, who completely embarrassed their opponents throughout the month of February. The revivals and frustrating losses can serve as very useful lessons for a team whose championship aspirations are arguably the most legitimate in the league.
Getting back into the win column on Thursday night won’t be easy, however. Boston is set to kick off a four-game west coast road trip in Denver against the defending champion Nuggets.
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