All that’s left is what’s ahead.
Considering the circumstances of losing two home games and a pair of 20-point third quarter leads, Joe Mazzulla was fairly subdued in his postgame presser. They’ll watch film and find areas to improve before heading out to New York for the weekend, but the Celtics head coach didn’t seem upset or concerned with his team’s performance.
And after being blitzed with questions about their three-point attempts, shot selection and late game decisions that didn’t work out in Boston’s favor, Mazzulla was as resolved as he’s ever been about his team.
“I take solace in the fact that we have a challenge ahead of us and a chance to go after it together and we gotta do it,” Mazzulla said of the defending champs. “We don’t really have a choice. We just gotta figure it out.”
If you’re glutton for emotional punishment….in the last six years, this is just the 2nd time (in 564 games regular season/playoffs), the Celtics went two straight shooting 25% or below from 3.
2nd time…in 564 games.
A lot of 99th percentile things here in round two.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) May 8, 2025
After sweeping the Knicks in the regular season and then suffering back-to-back anomalistic shooting nights from behind the arc, there are two schools of thought about what the Celtics have to “figure out.” Do they trust the approach that helped hang Banner 18 last spring and throw these outcomes out or is it a matter of dramatically changing their gameplan — even more drives, being even more deliberate about making Mitchell Robinson a non-factor, etc. — with potentially three out of the next four games at Madison Square Garden?
For Jaylen Brown, it’s all about mindset.
“Resiliency. Toughness. We got a great group that stays together through it all. These are the moments when we need to show our resiliency. We need to show our toughness, our mental toughness because we can get back in this thing — no question,” Brown said after hitting just 8-of-23 from the floor and coughing up six turnovers in Game 2.
“Obviously, being down 0-2, it sucks, but we got a great group and if I could select any guys that could get it done, it’s the group we have in the locker room. We just gotta come out, be a little more poised, take a deep breath, convert our opportunities. We missed layups, easy baskets. In two games, we up twenty points and somehow, not end up with wins. It’s inexcusable, but we’re going to learn from it. We’re going to respond.”
The Celtics haven’t lost three games in a row over the last two seasons. Game 3 seems like a must win. Game 4 might as well be, too. No team in NBA history who has lost the first two home games has gone on to win the series without regaining homecourt advantage in the next two.
“In a way, it kinda takes all the pressure off of us. If you check the odds, maybe the Knicks are the favorites now to win. We were expected to win, so for us to be in this hole with our backs against the wall, we have nothing to lose,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “So, we gotta go back out there [and] leave it all out on the floor. There’s a lot of basketball yet to play. Let’s see where this goes.”
Before Jayson Tatum could address the media, a fire broke out and TD Garden was evacuated. Metaphorically, maybe that fire was set by Mikal Bridges who had 14 points in the final frame, six more than all the Celtics starters combined. Or maybe that was the city of Boston trying to light a fire under their beloved team.
“What’s done is done,” Brown said. “Now we got an opportunity to see what we’re made of and come out and try to make something happen in Game 3.”