Porzingis gives honest take on Celtics who lost 30 points originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
THE Boston Celtics appeared to be on their way to another massive victory Monday night at Atlanta when they increased their lead to 30 points in the first half. Falcons.
The Hawks led 68-38 with 4:23 left in the second quarter. But the Falcons outscored the C’s 82-50 from then on complete a historic comeback in a 120-118 victory. De’Andre Hunter’s 3-point basket in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter ended up being the difference for Atlanta.
This is the first time this century that the Celtics have blown a 30-point lead and lost. The loss also ended Boston’s nine-game winning streak and its 21-game winning streak against sub-.500 teams.
The Celtics didn’t keep their foot on the gas in the second half, and it ended up costing them big time.
Celtics Center Kristaps Porzingis didn’t smooth things over after the game and even admitted that some adversity could help the team before the playoffs begin next month.
“Maybe a little too much (confidence), maybe we need to have a little more urgency sometimes,” Porzingis told reporters after the game.
“But of course we are a confident team because of what we have shown, and we hope to win every game. It’s a mistake for us to let this game get away from us. But I like the fact that we have some bumps .before the playoffs.”
Watch the video above for Porzingis’ full comments.
Overall, this loss is not a big deal for the Celtics, although it is painful. What they can’t do is let this loss lead to bad habits come playoff time.
Even though the Celtics have the best record in the league and have already clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, you don’t want to go into the playoffs without playing at a high level or without any rhythm.
“It’s the NBA, these kinds of things happen,” Porzingis said. “We just don’t want to make a habit of it and it hasn’t been a habit for us. We missed a game and we relaxed a little bit and we paid the price for it.
