Chris Forsberg

Are Celtics' late-game woes a cause for long-term concern?

Will a failure to execute in crunch time cost the Celtics this spring?

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Eddie House breaks down the two defensive miscues in the finals seconds of the team’s loss to the Rockets and reacts to Joe Mazzulla taking the blame for the mistakes.

Rocky late-game execution is nothing new for the core of this Boston Celtics team.

Last April, as these Celtics prepared to launch into postseason play, we wrote a story with the headline, “Celtics ready to prove they can thrive in playoff crunch time," with Boston players adamant they’d be better than their regular-season crunch-time numbers suggested.

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Boston’s inconsistent late-game execution was one of the only things to nitpick during its dominant 2023-24 regular season. And players swore they’d learn from those missteps. True to their word, the Celtics were downright unflappable in clutch situations while steamrolling their way to Banner 18.

Fast forward nine months, and the 2024-25 Celtics can’t get out of their own way in clutch situations.

While the raw numbers are OK -- Boston is 13-9 (.591) in games within five points in the final five minutes -- things get a lot less glossy when you find that Boston is a mere 9-8 in one-possession games (plus or minutes three points) in the final minute this season.

That essentially mirrors Boston’s output from last season, when the team was 21-12 in clutch games (.636) but 12-11 in one-possession games in the final minute. Those same Celtics went 6-0 in clutch games in the 2024 playoffs with a staggering +46.9 net rating in 24 minutes of clutch play.

Data has long suggested that poor clutch play in the regular season does not predict postseason struggles. Veteran teams routinely tighten up their late-game execution and perform better than regular-season data suggests.

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
The Celtics were a perfect 6-0 in clutch situations during the 2024 season with a +46.9 net rating.

That doesn’t make it any easier to watch the Celtics routinely fumble their way through late-game situations. Boston is now 3-4 in games within one possession in the final minute since their roller coaster play began in late December.

From Jaylen Brown straying too far as Tristan Da Silva hit a dagger for the shorthanded Magic in Orlando, to Jrue Holiday passing up a game-sealing layup before committing a turnover in an overtime loss to visiting Atlanta, to Boston’s multiple defensive miscues at the finish line Monday night against the Rockets, the Celtics have routinely complicated matters.

The 2024-25 Celtics have now blown nine fourth-quarter leads this season, matching their total from the 2023-24 campaign. Boston has fumbled away seven double-digit leads after doing so just eight times last season.

In a vacuum, it would be easy to suggest that if Boston had Derrick White, Sam Hauser, or Al Horford available on Monday night, they’d easily get to the finish line of a victory. But it seemingly hasn’t mattered how healthy the Celtics are; they keep playing with a lack of focus that runs counter to what we saw throughout last year’s playoff run.

Boston’s late-game woes shoves a magnifying glass in front of their roller-coaster ways. This team is routinely capable of playing its best basketball for one quarter, then completely losing its mind the next. Heck, sometimes it vacillates from possession to possession.

Will the Celtics be better in the postseason? Last year’s data suggest it’s possible. We’ve routinely seen this team display some of its best basketball against top opponents, although even the soaring Rockets couldn’t keep the Celtics dialed in for 48 minutes on Monday night.

Watching a visiting team’s role player routinely erupt for a new career-high in 3-pointers made hasn’t made anything easier for these Celtics. Dillon Brooks made 10 3-pointers -- and nearly hit an 11th in the final seconds -- as the Celtics continued to let him fire away with space. 

Late-game woes were easy to dismiss last season when the Celtics had a 14-game lead over the rest of the conference. Boston steamrolled teams so regularly that the occasional narrow loss didn’t sting the way it does now.

Boston is currently 5.5 games back of the Cavaliers with a pair of head-to-head matchups looming in February. The Knicks have moved within one game of Boston thanks to a four-game winning streak. 

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla would be quick to point out that we focus too much on late-game missteps and not the earlier lapses that put the Celtics in those clutch situations. That’s undeniably true. But so many playoff games come down to the final moments, and the Celtics don’t look anything like the team that was laser-focused at the finish line last season. 

The Celtics have to decide if they’re OK with continuing to stumble their way through the regular season -- and dealing with the additional obstacles that might present -- or if they want to crank up the focus before the playoffs.

The regular-season dominance of 2023-24 gave this team a safety net for occasional late-game woes. This season has left their lack of focus and discipline a bit more exposed. 

Maybe it won’t matter when the games do. But the Celtics undeniably have to improve their focus sooner than later.

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