The Celtics held a 17 point lead with only 10 minutes to go. And I was starting to believe what uber-optimistic Celtics fans had been spouting for months, that the C's could just turn "it" on when the playoffs came.
Then LeBron James happened.
With their starters still in the game, the Celtics were unable to maintain their big lead. And you can ascribe the collapse to the ridiculousness of LeBron, but the Celtics only hit 4 field goals in the 4th quarter. As we've seen since January, this team ended the game tired and listless.
There's no doubt the Celtics are good enough to substantially outplay teams for 3 quarters. But they have no energy left for the 4th. They have the killer instinct, but lack the teeth to act on it.
And what will happen when they're in a toughly fought playoff series. Even against the likes of Miami and Milwaukee, they'll struggle. And just one overtime game, win or lose, could wipe them out.
This is not a team waiting to "turn it on" when it counts. This team turns it on, then runs out of batteries well short of 48 minutes.
Celtics at Knicks Tuesday night.
Source:
ESPN
Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
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