After blowing a 20-point Game 1 lead to the Knicks and losing in overtime, the Celtics again gave up a big lead in Wednesday night’s Game 2, getting walked down and passed in crunch time as New York took a 91-90 victory.
“Two games we’re up 20 points somehow end up not with wins is inexcusable,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown said. “Obviously being down two, it sucks.”
The Knicks didn’t take their first lead of the game until there were four minutes remaining. They have led for just 12 minutes total in the two games but have a 2-0 lead, leaving the defending champion and 61-win Celtics bewildered.
“They made every play. … I thought we generated some good looks and then I thought we had some live-ball turnovers and they took advantage of it, so they made the necessary plays to win,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, whose team didn’t allow any points off turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“We put ourselves in position and we just didn’t make the plays.”
The Celtics are 3-of-20 shooting in “clutch time,” defined as the last five minutes of the game with the score within five points, over the two games. Jayson Tatum and Brown, Boston’s star wings, are a combined 1-of-12 in those moments.
“(It’s) a bunch of stuff that we can control,” said Brown, who had 20 points but was just 1-of-7 shooting in the second half and finished with six turnovers. “I feel like we played a little bit fast and sped up a little antsy. Just it’s a rough night.”
