NBA Playoffs: Five plays Celtics wish they could have back in Game 4 blowout loss
Boston has itself to blame for its sloppy play in the third quarter against the Wizards
The Washington Wizards blew out the Boston Celtics 121-102 in Game 4 to and evened their second-round series on Sunday, thanks mostly to a 26-0 run in the third quarter. In that stretch, the Wizards overwhelmed the Celtics with their aggressiveness, athleticism and speed.
In the third quarter, the Wizards had 16 fast break points and the Celtics had nine turnovers, leading to 21 Washington points. Three Wizards -- John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter -- scored in double digits in that quarter.
Obviously, Washington was phenomenal. It takes two teams, however, to produce a six-minute stretch like that. Boston appeared to lose its composure after halftime, committing live-ball turnovers that could have been avoided. The Wizards scored 1.189 points per possession in transition during the regular season, so they're just about the last team that you can afford careless turnovers against. Here are five possessions that the Celtics must wish they could have back:
1. The play that started the run
Washington's surge started with Wall zipping to the basket for a left-handed layup. He was able to do that, though, because Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas threw a pass to Al Horford that had no chance of reaching him. Those two are generally excellent in the two-man game, but Wall anticipated what Thomas was looking for and Thomas didn't have the right passing angle.
2. Ottomatic!
Thomas started the game strong, but Washington ramped up the pressure. It crowded and trapped him and, on one play, he misjudged Porter's length when trying to give the ball up to Horford. When Porter intercepted the pass, he needed only two dribbles to get to the other end of the court and throw down a two-handed dunk.
3. Wall-to-Wall
Right after that Porter play, Wall managed to poke the ball away from Avery Bradley as he drove baseline. Morris then recovered it, threw an outlet pass to Wall, and the All-Star took care of the rest, accelerating to the basket and finishing while drawing a foul. Bradley simply needs to protect the ball better than that.
4. Real deal Beal finish
With the Celtics down by 14 points, Marcus Smart tried to attack an open lane. The lane closed up, though, with both Porter and Morris rotating toward him. Morris got his hand on the ball, passed it to Porter and then Beal made a lefty layup of his own despite Jae Crowder fouling him.
5. The end of the run
Boston was down 19 when Thomas tried to attack Beal, but lost control and dribbled the ball off his leg. Again, the Wizards went the other way, with Wall placing a pass to Porter perfectly for yet another easy bucket.
This wasn't dissimilar from the sort of stuff the Celtics were doing at the beginning of Game 3 at the Verizon Center. They have had a hard enough time hanging with Washington's starters in the halfcourt; when they're doing extra damage to themselves, they have no chance.
"If you turn the ball over against these guys, you'd prefer to dropkick it into the stands so that at least you can set your defense," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "But, you know, their attack in transition killed us. In each of these two games, I think that our offense and our turnovers in that run separated the game. Last game it was in the first quarter. Today it was in the third quarter. They made us pay for it."
The bright side: Aside from that terrible stretch, the Celtics and Wizards were basically on the same level. Through four games, it is clear that these two teams are evenly matched. Part of Washington's identity, though, is being able to force turnovers and push the pace. Boston knows that, and it must be more organized offensively to stop this kind of thing from happening.
Despite the lopsided loss, there is no reason for the Celtics to panic. They do, however, have to clean things up on Game 5 on Wednesday. There is no excuse for how sloppy they were in the stretch that decided the game.
















