NBA: Bosten Celtics Patzen also in the second playoff game against New York Knicks

In the NBA playoffs, the Boston Celtics brought about the past with two opening defeats against the New York Knicks and aroused evil spirits of the past. The master threatens the unexpectedly early.

There could be special playoffs in the NBA, this was already indicated after the opening games of the conference semi-finals: for the first time since the playoffs were played in this format, each of the four semi-final series started with a home defeat. This also lost the favorite, higher-sized team and immediately released the home advantage in the best-of-Seven series.

Among them were the Boston Celtics, the reigning NBA champion. The overtime defeat at the start of the New York Knicks was also booked by many observers, possibly also at the Celtics itself. But in game two, also in the Boston Garden, the course of the game was repeated in a disturbing way for the Celtics: despite the high leadership, they lost again in the end, with 90:91, and are now driving a 0-2 deficit in the series to New York in the Madison Square Garden.

Bad memories in Boston – like David Tyree in Superbowl 2008

Not only the Boston Globe, the city’s largest newspaper, wondered what was actually happening: “What in the name of David Tyree is going on here?“-titled the Globe and reminded of the famous defeat of another team from Boston, in a duel with New York: in 2008 the Patriots lost the Superbowl final against the Giants as a high-altitude favorite, after a legendary action, that David Tyree, who fished a desperate pass spectacularly from the air and thus paving the way to victory.

Nothing has been lost in this year’s playoffs for the Celtics, but the master in New York is already expecting a first do-or-the-game: another defeat, synonymous with a 0: 3 deficit in the series, would be a huge mortgage for the Celtics. Especially since the Knicks have previously presented themselves as an matured and nerve -wracking team in the playoffs, which was also able to prevail against the Detroit Pistons in the narrow series.

The Celtics, in turn, managed to make a 0-3 deficit in the Conference Finals 2023 against Miami. But in the decisive seventh game they lost in their own hall. The first, bad memories of the Miami series have now been awakened again. It was believed that the highly agreed team around the superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown would have overcome nerve flutter in the big moments, after the sovereign final victory against the overwhelmed Dallas Mavericks in the previous year.

Celtics wobble – kinks are full

But the enigmatic slump in the first two games against New York has brought the old doubts about mental stability back in Boston. In both games, the Celtics led to the third quarter with 20 points, each with almost identical score (75:55 and 73:53) – before they let the Knicks come back into the game.

Above all, because her own offensive, otherwise feared as a lot of monsters, collapsed in the final phase: In the last quarter, Boston stayed out of the field for more than eight minutes without a single point. While the Knicks besides leader Jalen Brunson are there other players in the Crunch-Time: Mikal Bridges, for example, who scored all of his 14 points in the final quarter

“This is a difficult situation”said Bostons coach Joe Mazzulla, you wanted to start with the analysis. “We have to see what we can do better over 48 minutes.“

The Celtics shake, especially when it comes to the throws of the three -point eline, in the first two games they only met 25 percent of their litters from “downtown”. A three-way quota with which you can hardly win a game in the NBA, let alone a playoff series. Overall, the Celtics in the first two games 75 threesome, as many teams before in two playoff games.

Celtics hope for away strength – and for porzingis

Before the upcoming two games in the Madison Square Garden, the Celtics now hope for their away strength: In the regular season, they won 33 games in foreign arenas and just missed the NBA record. Another X factor could be Kristaps Porzingis: Boston’s most dangerous player in the zone, drags an infection with him, in game two he was only able to stand on the floor for 14 minutes. The Celtics need, the previous games have shown that they need their Latvian “Big Man” – otherwise the champion threatens the surprisingly early playoff.