Sometimes, a team just outplays another team, and that is the only real answer for why one ball club came away with the dub and another does not. And, at least in the opinion of Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, that is the primary culprit behind the Detroit Pistons outlasting the Celtics for a 112-105 victory at TD Garden this past Monday (Dec. 15) night, with shooting variance perhaps also playing a role.
And with both teams shooting 46% from the floor but Detroit 10% more efficient from beyond the arc in a game where much of the other margins were similar if not identical, the Boston coach might have a point. “I thought we got some really good looks throughout the second half,” he told the media after the loss.
“I thought in the first game (a 119-113 loss to the Pistons in late October) … we didn’t play well, this I thought we executed,” he explained.
“I thought we got some really good looks and I thought we didn’t make them,” said the Celtics coach. “We obviously had some possessions where we either didn’t execute, find the right spacing or we … had 13 turnovers.”
“A couple of those live balls were for dunks, but I thought it was a better process tonight than it was in the past game for sure. I thought they just made some more plays than we did down the stretch.” And, in fairness, there were several plays Boston beat themselves on with late-game turnovers — but in the NBA, when two good teams play, sometimes that’s all it takes.
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