Jaylen Brown calls out “inexcusable” performance

The Boston Celtics are currently fishing around the bottom of the lake looking for clues as to how such a storied team with a talented roster find themselves 2-0 down in the way they have.

In two games they have blown two huge leads against a resilient Knicks side, and it’s caused outrage amongst the fanbase and sheer confusion in the team.

After the second game, which ended in a 91-90 loss, Jaylen Brown was quick to take to the microphone to make his feelings heard:

“Two games we’re up 20 points somehow end up not with wins is inexcusable,” he said. “Obviously being down two, it sucks.”

“(It’s) a bunch of stuff that we can control,” added Brown, who managed 20 points during the game, “I feel like we played a little bit fast and sped up a little antsy. Just it’s a rough night.”

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that “they made every play. ... I thought we generated some good looks and then I thought we had some live-ball turnovers and they took advantage of it, so they made the necessary plays to win. We put ourselves in position and we just didn’t make the plays.”

‘Honestly, I don’t have the answer’

However, as much as we must analyse the Celtics and their loss, the Knicks also deserve huge credit. They have led for just 12 minutes total in the two games but have a 2-0 lead against a 61-win Celtics side - incredible numbers.

What’s more, they also missed an astonishing 14 of their final 15 shots and were outscored 23-6 over the last 8:30 minutes. Freezing up like this is not typical of a side who are so used to getting what they want on the court.

“I don’t have the answer honestly, I don’t have the answer,” Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis admitted in the aftermath. “Just a little bit of execution here and there. There’s a couple missed shots here and there. A couple things go their way and it just adds up and it’s this result.”

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The next game between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics is scheduled for Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 3:30 PM Eastern Time.

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