The Boston Celtics collapsed and Jayson Tatum appears seriously injured
There is no over-stating how devastating that loss was last night. Forgive me if this gets dark, but I had to process this by writing it out. Another epic collapse, punctuated by Jayson Tatum going down with what appears to be a serious (non-contact) injury. This goes beyond a gut punch. It is the worst case scenario and the sum of all our fears.
A quick time-out here to put some perspective guard-rails on this. This is still just sports and all that. Tatum will recover eventually. We did just have the blessing of last year’s title and we are spoiled by rooting for the greatest franchise in the history of basketball. None of this changes that and banners fly forever.
However…
As much as I want to give the Knicks credit for continually fighting back and taking advantage of every opportunity, I put this on the Celtics for giving into their worst habits time and time again. They build a huge lead by playing a certain way, then give it all back by playing a different way. This collapse wasn’t as bad as games 1 & 2, but those losses amplify this one.
Some of that is on the coach. Mazzulla has to steer them back on target when things are going sideways. Some of it is on the players as well, who stood around waiting for a hero to save them. I get that it is hard not to ride the hot hand when Tatum is going off like that, but the offense got too predictable and boiled down to a single point of failure.
Speaking of Tatum, he faces an uncertain road to recovery now. A guy that has been defined by his durability for his whole career is almost sure to miss significant time with this injury. We don’t know the full extent of this right now, but non-contact injuries like that are almost never a day-to-day sort of thing. I’m no doctor, but that looked like the sort of thing that will take several months to recover from.
Technically the series isn’t over yet. I’m throwing dirt on the season while there’s still at least one game left to play. I could see this team rallying together and making one last effort to extend the series. But without Tatum, I don’t see how they advance to the next round, never mind get to the Finals.
Which leads us to an uncertain offseason. Even in a world where Tatum is still walking and the team rolls to a 2nd straight title, there were always going to be some level of changes to the roster this offseason. There are the 2nd apron rules kicking in (not just taxes but roster restricting penalties). There’s the new ownership situation. Bill Chisholm seems like a fanboy like us, so I generally think he has good intentions. But this is all new so we have to see how things go.
After last night, it seems like anything could happen. Everyone other than Tatum and perhaps Derrick White could available at the right price point. This is shaping up to be a star-driven, active trade market offseason. We’ve already been bracing for the potential departures of guys like Jrue Holiday or Kristaps Porzingis. Does this collapse indirectly bring about the long discussed departure of Jaylen Brown? I’m not saying that the team will go into full-tank mode. But if they can move a big money player and get smaller pieces back without losing too much high end talent, then you have to imagine Brad Stevens will have to consider it. Life comes at you fast in the NBA. It is up to the Celtics brain trust how they navigate the waters going forward.
This whole season has been an echo of last year. The same general notes and themes, but muted, and more distant. Last year was a storybook run where everything went right. We knew from the start that it would be harder to repeat. It isn’t over yet, but it kind of feels like it is.