The key to the Boston Celtics’ in-season tournament loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday night, according to Jaylen Brown? “We just had a bad night taking care of the ball,” said the Georgia native postgame per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. “They put a lot of pressure on us … we just couldn’t get organized.”
“We had some turnovers, some bad shots that turned into transition points for them,” added Brown. “We got caught up in the rat race, and we should have just settled down a little bit, and we didn’t in that third quarter and that was the game.”
“It’s a combination of poise from our guys, getting to our spacing,” he explained. “Sometimes in those environments, like a playoff environment, you have to remain poised and stick to the game plan.”
Celtics Lab 230: No Vegas for Boston, but how can the Celtics get better from what they learned? https://t.co/U0bNhPHPqp pic.twitter.com/Pcjfugr1yk
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 5, 2023
“We took ill-advised shots,” said Brown. “We didn’t get to the right spots. That’s on our veteran guys to make sure we’re in the right position, and we’re poised. Make sure we keep control of the game.”
The Celtics may not be headed to Las Vegas for a chance at the IST’s half-million in prize money, but they may well have learned a valuable lesson about themselves just the same.
Whether they remember it this summer when it matters most is another question. But should they convert the wisdom gleaned in this loss to action, there will be plenty of value from the loss to be had, even if it’s not the sort one can deposit in the bank.
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