MIAMI — More than 30 minutes after the final buzzer sounded, Jaylen Brown took a seat at his locker. He had just taken a shower, and was only in a towel. The Celtics All-Star was still trying to process what had just happened. He sat there, staring into the abyss. He shook his head, still in frustration.
Moments later, he picked himself up, got dressed and took the walk to the visitors’ podium inside the Kaseya Center, where he would try to explain the devastation he just experienced, a 128-102 loss to the Heat that put the Celtics in a shocking 3-0 series hole in the Eastern Conference Finals.
But Brown, always thoughtful in his words, struggled with how to describe his feelings. He and the Celtics’ pride were questioned. It looked like they had quit. There was a clear disconnect on the court. Brown paused for more than five seconds after the first question.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown began.
“An obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fan base, organization down, we let ourselves down, and it was collective. We could point fingers, but in reality, it was just embarrassing.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla took full accountability for Sunday’s putrid loss, but the blame goes all around. And when it comes to those who played, Brown and Jayson Tatum shoulder the bear of the responsibility for an inexcusable no-show. The Celtics needed their two All-NBA stars to deliver on Sunday night. They both came painfully short.
Tatum scored 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting, including 1-for-7 from long range. Brown, after a hot opening six minutes, came crashing back to earth. He finished with just 12 points on 6-for-17 shooting with an 0-for-7 mark from 3-point land, including an air-ball on a wide-open look that said it all. Both were bad defensively. Neither played in the fourth quarter.
Together, the quote-unquote best duo in the NBA, were outplayed by a bunch of castoffs just playing better and tougher than them. Gabe Vincent – undrafted in 2018 – outscored Tatum and Brown combined with 29 points. The Celtics continued to be incapable of stopping Caleb Martin, who had 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Duncan Robinson, also undrafted, scored 22 points on five 3-pointers.
“We struggled to get stops, but to their credit, they're playing well above their means,” Brown said. “They're balling right now. I've got to give them respect, Gabe Vincent, Martin, (Max) Strus, Duncan Robinson, guys that we should be able to keep under control are playing their ass off.”
Remember when Tatum scored 51 points in an epic Game 7 performance against the 76ers to send the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals? It was only last Sunday. It feels like light years ago.
No one will remember that performance fondly if this is how he and the Celtics go out. It’ll just be a footnote on an embarrassing end. He and the Celtics don’t have any answers for the tougher, meaner, more inspired Heat.
For a third consecutive game in this series, Tatum didn’t make a shot in the fourth quarter. This time it’s because he didn’t play in it. The game was over. One more and the season will be, too.
“I didn't shoot the ball well at all tonight,” Tatum said. “But I think we got some open looks, coming off the pick-and-roll, getting doubled, hitting over the top, playing four-on-three. We just didn't shoot the ball well at all. We couldn't hit anything.
“Give them credit. They're a really good defensive team. They play hard, they communicate. But we had a lot of open looks tonight that we normally make.”
The Celtics weren’t ready, and they rolled over in the third quarter. How does this happen in the Eastern Conference Finals?
The truth is, the warning signs have been there in plain sight all along. In their epic Game 5 meltdown against the Hawks. In their Game 1 loss to the 76ers, who didn’t have MVP Joel Embiid. In their Game 5 home no-show against the Sixers. The Celtics, barely, were good enough to cover up their imperfections in the series.
Now, the Heat are exposing them for who they really are.
“Just being transparent, it’s unfortunate,” Tatum said of how they lose a game of this magnitude like they did on Sunday. “We obviously wanted to come out and perform better, play better, have a different outcome, or at least give ourselves a chance. You know, it's tough. For whatever reason, we didn't have it tonight.
“At this point of the season, you don't want to say that, but that's on us. As a unit, we didn't play well.”
Tatum said he deleted Twitter from his phone before the playoffs began, so he hasn’t seen any of the outside noise and commentary surrounding the Celtics since before Game 1 against the Hawks. It would be a smart idea to keep it that way after Sunday’s embarrassment. His ability to be a champion will be questioned. So will the Celtics’ future.
From the outside, there’s not much optimism for a comeback. This Celtics team doesn’t look to have the makeup to be the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit. But even if they can’t make history, they know they can’t go out like this.
“We've just got to have some pride, bounce back, and just be better come Tuesday,” Tatum said.
“We've just got to come out and play basketball,” Brown said. “Come out with a great mentality, come out and have some pride about yourself, come out and have some pride about who you're playing for, have some pride about whatever and just come out and play basketball. …
“I believe we can win the next one, so we've just got to come out and play. …
“The series isn't over yet. It's looking bad, but you come out, have some pride about yourself and put your best foot forward.”
