Ghastly turnovers continued to haunt the Celtics in Game 5 loss

The Boston Celtics dropped the ball in Sport 5. Actually. In reality, they successfully dropped the ball 18 occasions. Boston’s 18 turnovers led to 22 Golden State Warriors factors, which contributed to this harrowing statistic.

With their 104-94 win on Monday evening, the Warriors took a 3-2 over the Celtics. And as soon as once more, Boston did themselves no favors. Turnover woes have hypnotized the Celtics all postseason lengthy, and it doesn’t seem like anybody is coming to interrupt the spell anytime quickly.

“We’re laborious to beat after we don’t flip the ball over. And clearly, we’re simple to beat after we do flip the ball over,” Tatum defined when requested concerning the group’s turnover issues.

And to make issues worse, Tatum additionally managed to set an NBA document on Monday evening. The 24-year-old famous person has dedicated extra turnovers (95) in a single playoff run than any participant in NBA historical past.

Whereas he was a vibrant spot of their Sport 5 collapse scoring 27 factors on environment friendly taking pictures splits, he additionally displayed flashes of the turnover-prone Tatum who has proven up time and time once more all through the postseason.

Easy passes have haunted Tatum all through the playoffs, as he’s continuously thrown the ball away unnecessarily. Concurrently, Jaylen Brown has been coping with his personal turnover issues. Just for him, the first difficulty is driving into visitors.

Brown continuously dribbles into visitors with out a plan. This usually leads to him throwing the ball away, getting stripped, or just dropping it altogether.

The Celtics guard completed Sport 5 with 18 factors, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, however he solely managed to shoot 5-of-18 from the sphere and 0-of-5 from distance. His chilly taking pictures evening contributed to Boston’s messy offensive efficiency, as they have been unable to execute on that finish of the ground for almost all of the competition.

“Just a little little bit of credit score to them [Golden State]. They’re a extremely good defensive group. Disciplined and sound. They’re gonna pressure us to do what, clearly, we don’t do finest,” Brown defined. “So, we simply received to proceed to acknowledge the sport, see the sport, and make in-game changes and handle the ball when it comes right down to it. One other recreation with too many turnovers and it value us.”

Boston fell into an analogous lure to the one which occurred in Sport 4. They discovered themselves caught in isolation conditions, as they continuously settled for the primary look that Golden State’s protection gave them. Mix that with their turnover points, and so they have been in for a tough exhibiting.

This all began from the opening tip, too, as the primary quarter put Boston in a large gap. They have been down by as a lot as 16 factors within the quarter, which additionally marked Golden State’s greatest lead of the competition.

“Poor begin general, laborious to clarify why that’s,” stated head coach Ime Udoka when requested concerning the group’s tough first quarter. “However we received again in it. Turnovers, missed free throws, and a few of the issues, clearly received just a little bit into speaking to the refs an excessive amount of. Most likely didn’t assist us within the fourth, however the begin is difficult to clarify.”

However regardless of the ugly loss, Brown stays assured in Boston’s skill to bounce again.

“Your religion gotta be at an all-time excessive,” acknowledged Brown. “Our religion gotta proceed to be there. We gotta play as a group, as a unit. And all season lengthy it’s type of been like, us versus all people. So, I have a look at it, it’s no completely different from now. My religion is increased than it’s ever been earlier than. So, I’m trying ahead to Sport 6.”

Sport 6 will happen on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. EST.