Windy: Boston Celtics don’t understand why they are LOSING ⁉️+ New York Knicks resiliency 💪 | Get Up

Windy: Boston Celtics don’t understand why they are LOSING ⁉️+ New York Knicks resiliency 💪 | Get Up

Let’s go. Boston was the scene last night. Tatum and the Celtics looking to bounce back in a critical game two against Brunson and the Knicks. And this one went very much the way game one went. Celtics open up a big lead in the first half, then extend it in the third quarter. It’s an 11-point game. And then in this third, Monica, they open it up. Here’s Jaylen Brown. Yeah, and look, Jaylen Brown in particular was really on a mission in this ball game. He was he was aggressive. He was hitting threes. He was getting to the paint as well. And then that shot was kind of like, oh boy, here we go. Top 20 just where they wanted it. Exactly right. The Celtics were 40-2 this season when leading by 20 at any point in the game. But we know what one of those two was. Here come the Knicks in the fourth. That’s Male Bridges beating Drew Holidayiday. It’s a 10-point game. Celtics no good. Back we go the other way. Brunson Bridges. All 14 of his points came in the fourth. You got to know that Muel Bridges was 0 for8 until that point. He had been three of 21 in the series in the two games until the fourth quarter. It’s a 10-point game here. That’s an offensive rebound. That’s Brunson with the three. Knicks within seven again. Now here we go. Four minutes left. And now the Celtics on a fast break opportunity. Derek White turns down a good shot for a great shot. Jason Tatum has time to make himself a sandwich. The Celtics miss 13 straight shots in the fourth quarter. People, you missed that. Ensuing Nick’s possession, Allen, there’s Hart. And it’s a five-point game. It It is what this team does. It just keep like cutting and cutting and cutting. And watch this right here. Put back. Mhm. Boom. Plus the foul. Carl Anthony Towns at 21-7. It’s a one-point game. 2 minutes left. Same score. Brunson finding space. The Knicks take the lead. One minute left in the fourth quarter. Here we go. Brown no good. White no good on the break. Knicks going the other way. Brunson contested but tough. Knicks up 8986. And so here’s the decisive plays. 24 seconds left. Celtics down by one. What happened on the defense here, Monica? All right, so Al Horford sets a great screen. Mitchell Robinson’s out of position. This is Jason. Okay, listen. This is Jason Tat. That’s what you expect. Tatum’s only bucket in the fourth quarter so far in this series. Celtics up by one. Next possession. Brunson fouled. Down one. 13 seconds left. Makes the first. Here’s the second. It’s good. So, the Celtics will call a timeout and figure out what they want to do. The Celtics will call a timeout and figure out what they want to do. No, they won’t. They’ll try and do the same thing again. This is Jason Tatum on the road to nowhere. Robinson moving his feet. Second straight game. The Celtics don’t get a shot off at the end to try to win it. Not only don’t they get a good look, they don’t get a look. Tatum stuffed. It’s Bridges again for the second straight game. Impossibly, incredibly, and amazingly, the Knicks steal game two. They’re up two games to none against the defending champs. Two games we up 20 points. Somehow end up not with wins. Um it’s inexcusable. Uh but we going we going to learn from we going we going to respond. Joe, what was the uh thought process with not calling time out there of 12 seconds left? Uh had one left, got a good look on the exact same play uh 20 seconds earlier. Tried to execute the exact same thing. They did our job of uh their lower pickup point and we weren’t able to get the advantage that we had on that on the last Tatum dunk. So good fullcourt setting. They weren’t they subbed out Towns weren’t able to sub out. Brunson had uh action there and we just didn’t execute. Okay, so put your feet up. We got plenty of time to dive into this. There are huge story lines obviously that abound. There is the big picture and we will have time to get to that, but let’s start in the little picture. Let’s start at the end of the game. Wendy, you were there. Take us inside that. Missoula said he had what he wanted on the floor. He believed in what he had. He didn’t call the timeout. He’s getting roasted on Twitter, but that’s a not a good place to look for analysis. This is Wendy. Tell me about that last sequence. Yeah. So, I was in the Knicks locker room after the game and I specifically asked OG anobi, did you and Mitchell Robinson talk about how to defend it differently because the first time it was a disaster? And he said there was no time. As soon as Tatum got the ball, they looked at each other and said they knew what was happening. and they knew they were going to do the play. And all across the Knicks locker room last night, praise for Mitchell Robinson for the way he made the adjustment, dropping further back, denying Tatum his preferred right side, forcing him into the help in the Celtics locker room. Greeny, the last plays of the last couple of games aside, it was obviously did not go the way they wanted. They’re having difficulty coming to terms with what’s with what it is happening. They don’t understand why they’re losing. They believe their process is working. They believe they’re generating good shots. They are doing the recipe that delivered them the championship and 61 wins and they are not getting the bake out of the oven like they are used to. Obviously, there’s variance with shooting. This doesn’t make sense to them. They feel like they’re doing a good job on Jaylen Brunson. He’s only shooting 35% in the series. They want Male Bridges taking all those contested jumpers as he made in the fourth quarter. He’s shooting 29% in the series, but they’re losing. They’re at a little bit of a loss right now. Well, I can help them if they’re trying to figure this out. Cindy, can you put up a 24? The Celtics in the fourth quarters of both of these games have completely disappeared. They’ve shot 15%. These are in the fourth quarters from three. They’ve shot 26% from two. They’ve been outscored by 22 points in the 24 minutes that can make up the two fourth quarters. Let me get let me get Big Perk in and then we will get to the teleustration. big perk. How about that final sequence last night? What did you see? Well, look, everybody’s an expert and everybody’s a coach. Joe Mazula should have did this. He should have called a timeout. Joe Missoula has a history of taking time out home. He always want to have a, you know, some salmon with some mashed potatoes in the side of time out when he get to the crib. So, I knew he wasn’t I knew he wasn’t going to call a timeout in this particular play. And guess what? He wasn’t he wasn’t wrong, though. You have the ball in the in your best player hands with a lot of time on the floor. Did you see the difference between Jason Tatum in that moment and Tyrese Hallebertton in that same moment the other night when he got the offensive rebound? The patience, the way he was able to dribble out, get the spacing, saw that he had the mismatch, knew that he was going to his step back to hit uh the Cavs with a dagger three. This is not O Joe Missoula. This comes down to the heart and the mentality, right? And you think about when I look at the Celtics, it’s only one guy that is playing his ass off right now for the Boston Celtics on both ends of the floor, and that’s Drew Holiday. He has the assignment of guarding Jaylen Brunson, which he has done an excellent job of individually not getting screened, and on top of that, he’s producing offensively. This is on the backs of Tatum and Brown. They combined last night. They was what, 13 for 42 from the field. That’s unacceptable. Yeah. Tatum in particular has really struggled. I will get to him in a second. Let’s get to that final play though because you put together a tape. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is again, let’s give credit where credit’s due. This was a great defensive stop that let let’s make sure we also acknowledge that Tatum didn’t have many options on this because Mitchell Robinson played it perfectly. instead of dropping back, he went up when they saw that screen coming. Tatum also walks the ball up as opposed to the previous possession where they were going downhill. So, right here, you see Robinson’s not behind the screen. He blitzes it, forces him to his left hand into the torture chamber where you have two wing players who were traded to the Knicks just for this moment right here. OG Anobi, Muel Bridges. That’s where Robinson sends him into. And Tatum did not want to set himself up for a step back three. You know why? 25 for 100 is why it’s in his head, too. Not to settle for a three. I got to take it to the basket. Not comfortable on his left. He loses the ball a little bit. Give credit to Mitchell Robinson, a seven-footer, who was able to move his feet and understood the assignment, force him to his left, send him to those wings, and let them do the rest. And that’s how that game became a stop. That’s how that became a win for the Knicks. Yeah, it’s a Perk’s point. Some It’s the It’s the player’s job to make the coach look smart. The coach can the coach can look smart whichever way it goes. The players have to make the plays. Monica, you’re doing the game there. For those who don’t know, Monica does the Knicks radio. We’ll show your call of the finish a little bit later this morning. It was excellent. Uh but your thoughts on that final sequence would you partner immediately says they don’t use the timeout. Here they come. What did you see? Um Mitchell Robinson was the star to me. like he was the the absolute star because I think if you go back to game one first of all not even just game one let’s do the history of this series over the course of this particular season right the Knicks have really had to work through how they want to defend screens and in fact the Celtics have targeted them there were some crazy numbers in terms of how many times they went after Caranthy Towns in the regular season so on and so forth but in game one you saw a commitment to not being the weak link right guys who are going to take their one-on-one responsibility seriously and yes rotations are a part of basketball those are going to follow up but I think in that moment Again, it was one-on-one. Mitchell Robin said, “I’m not going to be the one.” And then the help could rotate. I just think, Greenie, and I continue to say this, and I really believe this, if the Knicks were not tested the way they were by the Pistons, I’m not sure that this group is prepared to show up this way. Great point. I mean, I can give you the the the stat on the close games. Uh Cindy, put up a 29 if you would, please. The Knicks have now played six straight. A29 is six straight games decided by three points or fewer which ties the longest streak in NBA playoff history. The last time it happened were the 81 Celtics um who went 4-2 over that stretch. So Big Perk, let’s talk about that for a minute here because I I liked where you were going. The reality is coaches make decisions. It’s the players job to make them look good or look bad. Jason Tatum has had just a brutal series so far. What are we seeing from the Celtics biggest star? Well, I mean, he’s not he’s not stepping up. And look, you know, playing with Paul Pierce, you know, in my Celtic days, the one thing I will acknowledge about Paul Pierce was that he took pride in protecting his crib, right? He took pride in individual matchups and not losing games on his home floor. I’m not seeing that from Jason Tatum right now. And it’s all about the dog, right? Being the dog, being able to get to the free throw line. And I get it. He shot only five three-point shots last night. And you got to give a lot of credit to OG Nova. You got to give a lot of credit to Mikuel Bridges. Hell, Jaylen Brunson at time, we see him slide those puppies. And we saw at the end of the play, we saw Mitchell Robinson get down in the defensive stance. But at some type, at some point, Jason Tatum got to say, “I’m the best player on the floor. I cannot be guarded. He’s one of the most elite scorers in the game today. And I just don’t see that tenacity. I don’t see that dog in him. And this is I thought was going to be his moment after being disrespected all summer long that he was going to be ready to protect not only his championship, but definitely protect his home court and his crib. And so they’re down two games to none. Cindy, one more. Let’s put up A23 as I give it to Wendy here for thoughts on this. Jason Tatum in clutch time in this series in both games obviously decided in the end. So both games going to clutch time. Tatum in 23 clutch time minutes in the fourth quarter in overtimes in this series has made two field goals with two assists and two turnovers. Wendy, what are we seeing from a Celtic team that you described as I don’t want to say shaken up, but confused by what has happened in the first two games? Yeah, it’s a difficult situation for me to try to get my arms around because the Knicks seem to be comfortable being behind in the fourth quarter. That seems to be where they prefer. They like the feeling of walking the team down. And when you look at the fact that they have won five consecutive road games by three points or less, which has never happened in NBA history before, no team has ever has done that in a whole postseason. No team’s ever done that more than two times in a row. They’ve done it five road games in a row. They seem to be comfortable playing from behind. And that is an unusual thing for me to understand. And the Celtics seem to play tight. You would think being up 20 at home that’s when things get rolling, but they seem to tighten up and I can’t explain that. And I think a lot of people are having trouble squaring how this is this is happening. There the results are not matching the process. I really am having a hard time figuring out where this series is going to go. I I I got you Wendy, but I will offer this too in watching these two games and in the playoffs at large. I think when you have teams that still have room to grow by the time they hit the playoffs, something unique can happen. And I’m wondering if you’ve sort of seen these guys peak earlier in the season. I mean, if you think about the basketball life of a Jason Tatum, a Jaylen Brown, these guys have been in the Eastern Conference Finals the last five years together and Jason Jaylen Tatum, excuse me, has one more additional run than that. So, when it gets late to to Wendy’s point of those guys tighten it up, it they look tight. They look tired and the Knicks meanwhile to me have grown through each game in this series. When we talk about the health, I mean, let’s just be clear what we’re talking about. Uh, Brown, there were the his there were the injuries, the knee is a concern, and Porzingis is a major concern. He’s only played like 25 minutes in this series so far. Missing him is a big part of what they do. But I’m telling you, I still think it all boils down to 25 for for 100 because they rely so much on that’s the shooting percentage from three in the two games. They rely so much on that that when that’s not going down, it’s sort of now we got to drive the ball. You got to do things that are that are not comfortable, that are different. But they always rely on burying you with threes. And when they’re not going down and that’s in the back of your mind, it does change the way you feel because now that right that default that you’re so used to being there is not there anymore. And when they don’t have that and they go 13 straight shots without making a bucket and the other team, as you said, Monica, has a little bit of a toughness about them that they keep scratching and clawing like that is a recipe for disaster. But let’s also not forget, look at the there are your numbers though, Alan, again, just to illustrate your point. 25 for 100. They shot 25% in game one. They shot marketkedly fewer threes last night for whatever it’s worth, but they shot the same percentage. And we had the stat in the essay that we did yesterday. When they shoot above 30% from three-point range, regardless of the number of attempts, they’re basically unbeatable. And when they shoot lower than 30%, they’re much very much beatable. Perk, go. So, we we’re not going to address the elephant in the room. I’m I’mma say I’mma say the quiet thing. I’m I’mma say the quiet thing out loud or ask the question, right? What the hell is going on with Christopher Zingis? Like, what is this mystery illness that no one knows about, right? This has been lingering since March. Like, what is going on with the the NBA don’t know? Like, nobody knows what’s going on with him. And and and it’s concerning because like he’s on the floor. Is it contagious? Is it not? Is it like what’s what what’s happening? We like we need some answers here. Like you do keep saying, “Oh, he’s out.” I I spoke to him last night. Um he just described what happened to him in the last few days as a big crash. He said he was managing what he was dealing with relatively well. and he’s had this crash and he feels it from a fatigue standpoint. That’s why they didn’t start him last night. Now, when you when you hear he’s sick, he’s not sneezing. He’s not wheezing. He’s feeling incredible fatigue. Boston is one of the leading medical cities in the world. He is a an NBA player with a huge investment in him. Trust me, they have taken him and had all these specialists look at it. This is a problem. He He was managing it well. He said it’s killing him that it’s happening now, but he is not himself. He admitted that and that I don’t know how big of a factor it is, but not having Porzingis to go to as an option to run offense through is definitely a factor in the Celtics having trouble scoring. I believe it is a huge factor, big perk, and I think that’s what you were getting at. He was their cheat code as we watched their run through the playoffs last year when they had a healthy Porzingis. They were for all intents and purposes unbeatable and they missed that in this series. There’s no question about it. Perk, I mean, look, last year it wasn’t Jokic, it wasn’t Embiid. He was the best post up guy in the league last year. He led the league in the postups, right? When they they ran high pick and rolls with him and they got the switches, they threw it down to him on the low block or at the nail and he was able to take advantage of it. The Celtics don’t win the NBA championship without Chris Porzingis. He was the one that gave them the separation in the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks on both ends of the floor. So, I’m not I’m not throwing shade or going at him. I’m just trying to understand what is going on. You know, what is happening with him? Nobody is saying nothing. It’s just a a big mystery. And I think we all deserve answers. Yeah. I I think the the the part of it that is confusing or frustrating or confounding or whatever word you want to use is that I don’t think they have answers and that’s the problem. So, let me show you something very unusual. A27. So, here’s the poll. I want to set it up by telling you that the Celtics who opened up the series – 900 favorites to win are now the underdog in this series. Okay. The Knicks are favored at minus 115. The Celtics, however, this all these from ESPN bet. The Celtics remain the favorites in the East. It is a an unusual wrinkle in the way gambling works, but the Knicks are now favored to win this series, but the Celtics remain the favorites to win the East. It has to do with how prohibitive a favorite they would be if they get to the next round. Can’t figure out either. So, I have Exactly right. I have the poll up, and you just saw it a minute ago. If you go to my page on Twitter, which is ESPN Greeny, I ask who’s gonna win. And right now it is 50. That’s crazy. 50. That’s crazy. We keep the poll open. We’re going to keep the voting open until the end of the show today. Celtics 50%, Knicks 50%. Get on Twitter, cast your vote, let us know what you think.

On Get Up, Kendrick Perkins, Brian Windhorst, Monica McNutt and Alan Hahn join Mike Greenberg to react to the New York Knicks’ comeback win vs. the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

0:00 Knicks-Celtics Highlights
3:55 Brian Windhorst’s initial thoughts on ending
5:43 Perk blames Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown
7:19 Alan breaks down final play
8:45 Monica says Knicks’ series vs. Pistons proved helpful
10:14 Why is Jayson Tatum struggling?
15:12 Kristaps Porzingis’ absence

✔️ Subscribe to ESPN+ http://espnplus.com/youtube
✔️ Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
✔️ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
✔️ Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoNBAonESPN
✔️ Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV

#ESPN