PHOENIX — The Boston Celtics had a rare encounter with NBA reality this week.
Until starting their current road trip by falling into the Cleveland Cavaliers And Denver Nuggets in consecutive games, the Celtics had only lost two consecutive outings once. That losing streak, if you can call it that, came in November. From that time until last week, the Celtics were rarely forced to taste their own blood. They were charmed or, perhaps, just big and consistent enough to escape the long lulls that characterize every team. It wasn’t until the first two games of this swing that the Celtics experienced another skid. They collapsed in the fourth quarter against the Cavaliers before getting swept by the Nuggets in the seasonal series between the two teams.
It wasn’t a long slide compared to the misfortunes most NBA teams experience from time to time. But compared to Boston’s usual smooth sailing, even minor tremors stood out. Jaylen Brown called it “probably our best little challenge of our season.”
“Two losses,” Brown said. “We wanted to respond with a victory.”
The Celtics took the test seriously. And they adopted it. After enjoying some sunshine on Friday, they overcame scorching temperatures. Kevin Durant and his Phoenix Suns Saturday evening 117-107. Luc Kornet and the bench helped open a first-half lead before the starters closed Phoenix out late. Jayson Tatum came out of an ineffective start to score 13 points in the fourth quarter and Al Horford made the biggest shot of the night after missing his first six 3-point attempts of the game.
The consequences of another Horford failure could have been serious. With less than two minutes remaining, the Suns had cut Boston’s double-digit lead to 5 points. Durant had reached a surreal level of shot completion, even by his own high standards. Tatum had played the entire second half, putting him over 40 minutes for the evening. After four straight empty possessions, the Celtics needed a bucket to get some separation. They were in a dangerous position when Brown started an offensive set with a pass to Tatum.
As Brown fled Jrue Vacations screen, Holiday read the defense perfectly and slid toward the paint to receive the ball from Tatum. From there, Holiday forced Horford’s defender to help him so he could find Horford all alone in the left corner.
“Just a great play that Joe (Mazzulla) wrote,” Horford said. “I feel like JT made the right pass to Jrue, and then Jrue found me in the corner. I took my time. I felt like I was rushing through my shots all night, for some reason. And this one, I just took my time and made sure I knocked it down.
Al Horford missed his first six 3s but made his biggest. (Joe Camporeale / USA Today)
That clutch mark helped Boston avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season.
“I lost two in a row, on the road, understanding we had to get a win,” Horford said. “And we had to do whatever it took to get this win.” And we were able to do it.
After receiving criticism for a poor game in Denver, Tatum spent part of his Friday on the links. Although he declined to answer a question about the score he recorded on the golf course, he said he made money during the round. The activity allowed him to take advantage of the good weather, a treat for Boston players at this time of year. It also allowed him to get away from mental stress for a few hours, although he didn’t need too much of a break from that sort of thing.
“I’m doing a really good job of moving on,” Tatum said. “I’ve said it before, no matter how good or bad I play, I will never be too low or too high. Whatever people say, I respect it. People have a duty to account for what we do, what we say, how we play. So I never take these things personally.
Tatum was chasing the fairways. Horford went for a hike and read outside. The Boston players seemed to relish the Phoenix sun. But they also planned to take advantage of this trip to get back on track. Although it almost seemed funny to ask about the emotions of a two-game losing streak, a phenomenon so common throughout the NBA, the Celtics hadn’t faced much basketball adversity- ball this season. It was fair to wonder how the players handled the back-to-back setbacks.
“I think the most important thing was to handle losses the same way we handle wins,” Mazzulla said. “So I think the guys showed great maturity and a great approach to the process when we win, and that’s hard to do. During the (recent) 11-game winning streak, I didn’t see a lot of slippage in the effort and details of the things we were doing. So you just need to maintain that despite the losses. I think it’s really important to keep that balance, and the guys have done a good job of that.
The Celtics want to be the same after wins and losses. They want to be the same at home and on the road. They want to be the same every night, every possession, every moment. Of course, they will not always achieve this goal. No team will ever do that. But they want to be imperturbable. They want to focus on improving and executing regardless of the situation.
Before beating the Suns, Horford certainly didn’t seem too broken by the back-to-back losses. His biggest takeaway? He said Boston needs to take care of the ball and look good every time on the court. When the Celtics do that, he said, it covers up the other mistakes they’re making.
Cleveland’s loss still hurts because the Celtics, with a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter, seemed to have the game in hand. Instead, they let Dean Wade take the form of a Hall of Famer and push the Cavaliers into the lead. With one last chance for victory, the Celtics went far too slowly on their final possession, an execution error they had made in the past. Two nights later, Boston failed to eliminate Denver for the second time in two games this season. The reaction to a national game like this can be fierce, but Horford viewed setbacks rationally.
“I look at it more from the perspective of how we play,” Horford said. “Is this good basketball?” Are we in competition? Is it right there? And I feel like these last two games were just two road games against tough teams. Yes, we had our chances, but we just couldn’t get it done.
They succeeded against Phoenix. They did this even with Durant putting on a relentless display of shooting. They did so even after Tatum struggled for most of the first three quarters and Horford started in place of the injured man. Kristaps Porzingis, couldn’t hit an outside shot for a very long time. Despite playing the entire third quarter, Tatum said he asked Mazzulla to stay on the field for the rest of the game. Even though it would lead to Tatum playing 42 minutes on the night, plenty for a regular season game, Mazzulla agreed to the request. Tatum said it was maybe the second time this season he’s asked to play an entire half.
“I just felt like I was getting into a rhythm at one point,” Tatum said. “But I figured I’d make a few shots and then I’d miss three (or) four. The game was starting to get competitive and things like that. I just wanted to stay home. I don’t say it often. I just told Joe I wanted to stay in the rest of the match.
This suggests how much Tatum wanted to win. While the Celtics didn’t overreact to the two straight losses, they also didn’t want to make such mistakes a habit. They didn’t let each other fall again.
“Just don’t let it snowball, right,” Tatum said. “We are not perfect. We try to be. We really try. But we make mistakes and things like that. It’s a tough league. The other teams are really good, they have great players. So it all depends on how you react. If you want to be a special team, you have to do a really good job of responding. Winning on the road is particularly difficult, being away from home for 10, 12 days or whatever. So it’s a great way to come here and get a win against a team that’s been playing well lately.
(Top photo of Boston’s Jayson Tatum shooting over the Suns’ Saben Lee during the first half Saturday: Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
