INSTANT REACTION: Celtics blow 22-point lead vs. Cavs, win streak comes to an end

INSTANT REACTION: Celtics blow 22-point lead vs. Cavs, win streak comes to an end

Welcome in the Celtics post game live Eddie House Amina Smith here with you the Celtics falling to the Cavaliers 105 to 104 and that one point the Celtics they were up by 22 in this game and the Cavaliers they did not have Donovan Mitchell out there on the floor I did

Not expect this game to unfold Eddie the way that it did but what was your biggest takeaway after the Celtics loss well my key before the game was no let down right and you know kind of just stay focused on what you’ve been doing and build on that and I felt like for

Three quarters they pretty much did that and in the fourth quarter I thought that they kind of just exhaled they took their foot off the gas a little bit they were getting cracked off the dribble they were overreacting to drives and giving up threes and before you know it

You know is you’re down yeah you know after being up 20 points you gave up eight threes in that fourth quarter and and to that that’s just defensive breakdowns uh you know throughout that fourth quarter I mentioned the Celtics being up by 22 points in the fourth

Quarter let’s take a look at that Cavaliers comeback they were on a 31-6 run to get themselves back in this game and eventually win this game against the best team in the East let’s take a look at those highlights right now and Eddie you mentioned those three-point shots

For the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter how did they shoot their way back into this game just not good defense like Dre holiday everything’s a day late a dollar short look at that everybody’s reacting late look at the late Contest no contest a basket and I think that’s where really

Right here everything look at everything was just walk-in shots a uh they just attention to detail defensively I think they lacked that last 8 minutes and and I thought they I really believe they felt felt like the game was over with and so they took they exhaled they

Relaxed and they had a team kept pushing and kept knocking kept kicking until they finally kicked the door down and was able to win but everything was a day late dollar short their their rotation was late uh they were getting cracked off the dribble their close outs weren’t

With purpose or with force and you know when you play in a team Cavaliers is a good basketball team with or without Donovan Mitchell this team still believes that they’re a really good team and guys are going to step up they’re relishing in these moments like okay I

Get more minutes now let me show let me try to earn more minutes because the playoffs is coming that’s where you make your money so I I just felt like we exhale yeah and and the the minute you take your foot off somebody neck the minute you just think that it’s over

With is the minute that you going to be on the other end and now you hoping they take their foot off your neck and it don’t happen like that and then late in the fourth quarter the Celtics they tried to get back in this game and win

This game let’s take a look at the final minute of that fourth quarter Drew holiday on this play right here he’s going to get it to the basket makes it 103 to 101 the Celtics they’re up at this point and then you got Chris D porzingis looking to turn some defense

Into offense a big block at the basket then Derek white getting things moving the balls moving down the court Drew holiday finds Chris stats porzingis he gets two and a foul and you could see the emotion right here Here Eddie this is where I feel like the Celtics they

Felt like okay we got control of this game in the final seconds and then Dean Wade with the dunk right there and then it makes it 105 104 the Cavaliers are up and then this is where it gets a little wonky at the end of the game Jason Tatum

For the win takes the shot a foul is call on Darius Garland the play Under review take another look at it right there and then that foul that gets called on Darius Garland is overturned you get the jump ball right here s left in the game a lot of questions about

Whether Derek White had the possession how much time should be on the clock but Eddie what is your take your takeaway from those final seconds of the fourth quarter all right so I’m going to unpack those final those final seconds right there right so the refs call a foul on

Darius Garland and they say Well it actually it looked like a natural motion when you’re shooting a fade away your leg naturally kicks out a little bit it wasn’t a forceful kick out it wasn’t to the side it wasn’t searching out to try to get contact it ended up getting

Contact well you don’t call that foul but we got the tip in right so then they go they don’t get that right then it’s a jump ball at half court it should be more time on the clock when you look at when they called that foul there should

Been about 1.7 on the clock one point somewhere around there they don’t get that right then it’s 7 they throw the ball up as soon as the ball gets tipped then you don’t even we don’t even have a chance to call the timeout so at the end

Of the day and I know Zach Zara is is uh scows is scowl’s one of Scout’s favorite refs he today the refs at the end at in the most important times and I know it it never should have to come down to that cuz we were up as as big as we were

But when it did come down to it I thought they failed um and they’ll come out to tomorrow with the two-minute report and say yeah yeah well you know we messed up right there and that don’t do nothing for nobody man nobody want to hear how you messed up the next day I

Mean come on stop it man get it right right when it happens and to to me that that just shouldn’t that that shouldn’t happen but they put their yourself in that situation they had opportunity win this game without any of that coming down and Drew Carter and scow joining us

Live from Cleveland right now scal how would you describe the final seconds of that fourth quarter well I mean for me this is the way I look at the game when you’re down by one and there’s 14 seconds on the clock you want to get as many

Possessions as you possibly can right so you I don’t understand why we didn’t bang a timeout Advance the ball and I get it like you’re you don’t want them to take Darius Garland out but you should be worried about that when you’re stacked like us so here’s my point we

Missed a shot it is what it is they call the foul they don’t call a foul but that was like our only chance we should have taken it uh taken a timeout Advance the ball now we go and take a quick shot with let’s say there’s 11 seconds on the

Clock even if we miss it then we could foul and do it again Advance the ball like we have two timeouts to burn there and I just think like to to when you’re down by one I I don’t think that there was a good idea to take a shot with 1.7

On the clock I just I don’t believe in that philosophy I believe in now if the score is tied I’m totally fine with I have no problem with it but down by one down by one you want to get as many possessions as you possibly can let’s

Say you go up now you know they’re up against it they only have one timeout left I just thought we just managed the game very poorly I got a text today that when there is a jump ball it starts when there’s a controlled tap so with s on

The clock the Celtics were never ever going to get anything out of that that according to the information that I got right now it starts live on the T it doesn’t start when Derek white gets the ball which in my opinion if that’s the case then Derek white should have known

That and should have shot it but I really thought it didn’t start until a guy caught it and possession was established and JW the sou thinks they were up by 22 points in the fourth quarter and it somewhat in many ways feel like that they kind of play with

This game a little bit with the Cavaliers being down Donovan Mitchell yeah I feel like I just saw a ghost Amina like we were joke we were joking about Haley’s Comet with Drew holiday missing a corner three and then Chris stops making one like I just saw

Haley’s combo with this team losing a game and and maybe maybe the team feels the same way you know I you’re doing a good job of ducking the question that’s a good job by you man what are you talking about bro it’s like you’re we

Blew a 22 22 point lead because DOD we limp to the Finish because we were looking at these dudes like these dudes ain’t going to be able to beat us all right so we W be everybody on our we’re like we’re already thinking about Denver

And all of a sudden Dean Wade hits 63 Dean Wade might be the best Cavalier of all time after ton you were ducking a question aside LeBron D Wade is the best Cav all time okay but I I will say this if the Cavs didn’t completely Catch Fire

The Celtics still win that game I yeah of course but how do they catch fire with the guy just get teeing up wide open shots wide open I don’t think they were all wide open oh man you definitely ducking good job by you man were they

Wide open Eddie yes tell tell me how defense we sto playing defense I will say this there you go Scout we were getting cracked off the dribble we were overreacting to the crack off the dribble and we were late on contest late no contest guys was just walking in the

Threes and I think it was it was the fact of we up 22 this game over with we moving on to the next one as opposed to just closing it out before you know it you know now you on the ground getting hit upside your head and it’s hard to

Get you know hard to get them up off you like that yeah don’t forget I mean this Cavaliers team they’re still top three in the East they are still in the hunt and you know trying to get to a title as well no not with the roster that they

Have out there they’re not top three not with the rer top three there are a top three team in the east in the East right now they are top three team in the east know that I know that but like with Donovan Mitchell out Darius Garland on

The bench Evan Mobley Jared Allen yeah but we’ we’ve also seen them play well without Donovan Mitchell let’s not act like this team is not good just because Donovan Mitchell is not out there they’re still a good team and then you know that if you’re a a Celtics team

That’s number one in the NBA you’re going to get 110% every night no matter who is out there on the floor so whether you got R players out there or Star players out there they going come to try and beat you and 105 that’s all I’m saying talk heava that’s all saying talk

Heava no why it’s it’s just we we quit playing defense took our foot off the gas part of it that’s absolutely we exhale we exhale we thought that this game was over we exhale before you know it now you getting punched in your nose nose is broke tooth is chipped look

That’s just what happened look to the clothes all torn up got holes in your shirt leaking leaking from from the back of your head

Amina Smith, Eddie House, Scal and Drew Carter share their reaction to a crazy ending in Cleveland. They break down what went wrong for the C’s in the 4th quarter and discuss why the team can’t take their foot off the gas in games like this

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