Subscribe
Follow Us
The Boston Celtics stuck to an identity on their way to an NBA championship last season. They were a team stocked with shooters who let it fly at a rate higher than any other team. And it worked.
One year later, that same strategy has them in a stunning 2-0 second-round series deficit against the New York Knicks in the NBA Playoffs. The Celtics shot 25-of-100 from three while blowing back-to-back second-half 20-point leads at TD Garden. Boston superfan and NBA podcaster Bill Simmons called out the team for their lack of adjustments during the pair of epic collapses.
“I hate to use this word because, in the wrong context, it’s a little insulting, but there’s been an arrogance to this Celtics team that comes out at the worst possible times,” Simmons said, “where it’s like, this is who we are; we shoot threes; we don’t need a timeout; we can just get Tatum going to the basket; we’re just going to play Horford because this is what we do down the stretch.
“And I really think Pritchard should have been out there for at least one of those games over Horford.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla and star forward Jayson Tatum have drawn the brunt of the criticism for the team's horrendous second-half play vs. the Knicks.
Bill Simmons calls out Celtics for arrogance following collapses vs. Knicks
While they've received criticism, the Celtics have generated high-quality three-point looks during both games. Per NBA.com tracking data, 48 of their 100 attempts have been wide-open (six-plus feet of space to nearest defender).
They shot 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) on wide-open threes in Game 1 and 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) in Game 2 after converting at a 40.7 percent clip during the regular season.
Boston generated eight wide-open threes in the fourth quarter of Game 2 but converted just one.
Article Continues Below
the celtics' 3-point shot selection wasn't always great in game 1 but can't complain about the looks they got in game 2
they missed all of these just in the fourth quarter pic.twitter.com/Z0C4JTXsm2
— jack maloney (@jackmaloneycbs) May 8, 2025
Despite the quality of looks they've generated, their refusal to alter their approach when their shots aren't falling has been head-scratching, or arrogant, as Simmons put it.
No stretch better illustrated this than the final two minutes of Game 1, when Tatum, who was 4-of-12 from three to that point, missed three consecutive pull-up threes despite being guarded by Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson.
Simmons alluded to the stretch when expanding on his criticism of Boston's late-game approach.
“I thought the biggest sin of either game was the last two minutes of Game 1, when especially Tatum was just jacking up threes instead of trying to get to the basket or just trying to get into the paint,” he said. “Including that one he took with like a minute left, that was just awful when he was taking it, and he has Mitchell Robinson on him and can just go by that dude every time.
“We've watched him [do it]. What was the regular season for? This is what he learned during the regular season. Just go by those big guys. You're gonna be able to get by them. Go to the rim.”
Despite their 2-0 hole going back to New York, there is still confidence that Boston can turn things around. The Celtics are still a slight favorite to win the series, per FanDuel SportsBook. Game 3 is on Saturday at 3:30 PM EST.
