Game 1 vs. the Sixers showed again that what the Celtics have to overcome is themselves
The Celtics' worst habits showed up in Game 1.
The Celtics can overcome rookie head coach Joe Mazzulla’s inexperience and win the NBA title this season.
That’s not a declaration that they will. But they can.
Celtics
They have the league’s deepest roster. Their pieces fit well. They have more big-game experience than supposed hoop pundits often acknowledge. And their path is presumably less daunting with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks dismissed for the summer.
They can.
That’s worth remembering after Monday night’s 119-115 loss to the 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series in which the visitors to TD Garden prevailed despite playing without Most Valuable Player front-runner Joel Embiid, who was out with a knee injury.
The Celtics are capable of finishing the job even as their coach is learning on the job.
But this also is true: The loss was as familiar as it was frustrating, and yet another reminder that what the Celtics really have to overcome is themselves.
Their worst habits reared up in Game 1, including:
An arrogance that they do not need to play with maximum effort and discipline to defeat a team minus a star player.
This is the most annoying thing about these Celtics, and it’s particularly perplexing considering that it’s both a recent and recurring theme.
They lost to the Suns without Devin Booker by 12 points this season, to the Thunder without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander by 33, and just a week ago Tuesday to the Hawks without Dejounte Murray by 2 in Game 5 of their first-round series.
You’d think they’d know better by now, but there was Al Horford after the game, acknowledging that he thought the Celtics might have taken the Sixers lightly because of Embiid’s absence.
Uninspired defense.
James Harden (45 points in easily his best game of the season) repeatedly roasted Marcus Smart, and got perimeter matchups with Horford whenever he wanted them because the Celtics’ predictable switching defense was so passive.
Horford has slipped a little as a defender this season — the guy is 36 — but the Celtics still give him defensive responsibilities as if this is May 2017.
Believing offense is all they need.
The Celtics tend to coast on defense when they’re shooting the ball well, as if offense alone will be enough to carry them to victory. They hit 14 of their first 15 shots Monday night and shot 74 percent in the first half, but led by just 3 at the break, 66-63.
Charles Barkley offered them a warning that they should not have needed on TNT’s halftime show: ”The Celtics haven’t learned their lesson … This just goes to show that they think this is a scrimmage, they’re not taking the Sixers serious … If you’re shooting that percentage, you should be up 20.”
Forgetting to involve a hot shooter.
Jaylen Brown came out scorching as he often does, hitting 6 of 7 attempts in the first half. You know how many shots he got the rest of the game? Three. This is inexcusable.
And let’s admit it: Brown isn’t adding much right now if he isn’t scoring. His defensive effort ebbs and flows, and he has more turnovers (25) than assists (22) in the playoffs so far.
Carelessness with the basketball.
They committed 16 turnovers to the Sixers’ six, including absolutely brutal giveaways by Malcolm Brodgon and Smart in the final minute.
Brogdon’s pass, which was so bad that for a second I expected Gerald Henderson to intercept it, led to a Tyrese Maxey layup and a 114-113 Sixers lead with 28.2 seconds left.
Smart coughed up six turnovers himself, and Brown had four.
All right, so that’s an awful lot of worst habits right there, huh? If there’s any solace to be found, it’s that the Celtics usually do get their act together after one of these stinkers (winning Game 6 against the Hawks, for instance, or winning Games 6 and 7 in the conference semifinals last year against the Bucks after losing Game 5 at home).
They still should win this series, even if Embiid returns soon and is effective. They’re not doomed. They’re just so darned annoying.
It’s exasperating that they insist on making things so difficult for themselves. The Celtics could do themselves — and their bright but inexperienced coach, who was clearly caught off guard by the Sixers’ switch to a zone defense and who has to be elevated by his players sometimes — so many favors by maintaining their focus and continuing to play with poise and pace when things are going well.
They know better. They know every minute counts in the playoffs, and that the extra miles logged because you played two or three more grueling games than you needed to can catch up to you in the end.
It’s why the season ended two wins short of a banner last June. And yet they can never resist increasing their own degree of difficulty.
Monday was a wasted night, a wasted opportunity, for the Celtics. It’s the sort of thing they’re supposed to be past, and yet they keep on hauling those habits right back into the present.
The only conclusion is that they don’t believe their casualness is going to prevent them from fulfilling their quest. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. But there cannot be many champions who treated prosperity like an enemy.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com