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Despite being down Derrick White and Sam Hauser on Monday night against the Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics still put up quite the fight. They were fighting an uphill battle against the younger and more athletic Rockets team all night long, but they managed to tie the game at 112 apiece thanks to a strong drive to the basket from Jayson Tatum against one of the best defenders in the league in Amen Thompson. But then the Celtics had a major blunder on the defensive end on the ensuing possession, paving the way for Thompson's game-winning bucket.
The Celtics tried to switch matchups on the fly, with Jaylen Brown taking on Thompson while Luke Kornet goes over to cover Jalen Green on the corner; Fred VanVleet then made a heads-up play to capitalize on this confusion, throwing the ball quickly to Thompson who then had the step on Brown, who was late in recovering after the sudden change in defensive assignment. Suffice to say, the nascent second-year forward for the Rockets, who had himself a career-night, made the Celtics pay.
After the game, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla could only point the finger towards himself for causing the confusion that led to their demise on Monday night, saying that he was to blame for trying to switch the matchups but calling for it too late, as per Jay King of The Athletic.
The initial decision to put Kornet on Thompson was sound; Thompson is not much of a threat on the perimeter, so Kornet can simply drop off and wall him up on the drive. But with the ball going to the young Rockets forward, the Celtics looked to get ahead of a potential switch. All this overthinking led to two points for Houston, and in a game-losing fashion as well.
Celtics are hitting a midseason wall
It's safe to say that the Celtics are not even close to playing their best basketball as of late. While a two-point loss to the Rockets is nothing to be ashamed of, the trend of their performances as of late has got to be worrying for fans to witness. They've gone just 5-5 over their last 10, including losses to the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and Sacramento Kings.
Nevertheless, the Celtics should get it together soon, especially when they have their full roster intact. There aren't any real warning signs yet of a decline for Boston, although they better not get used to the feeling of sleepwalking, especially when every team is gunning for their head.
