SELF-INFLICTED: Boston Celtics TURNOVERS, missed shots, SQUANDER chance to beat Pistons
Boston Celtics stumble with a costly loss to the Detroit Pistons as Jaylen Brown’s impressive stat line is overshadowed by mental lapses and missed free throws. Can the team bounce back from self-inflicted wounds and cold shooting nights? John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal examines late-game turnovers, questionable decision-making, and how Derrick White’s fourth-quarter heroics weren’t enough to seal the win. Insights include Payton Pritchard’s inconsistent shooting, bench struggles headlined by Anfernee Simons, and Joe Mazzulla’s move to a zone defense—will these tactical experiments pay off against top contenders?
Key discussion points feature Jaylen Brown’s dual brilliance and frustration, the Celtics’ three-point woes, and upcoming opportunities for young wings like Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez. Plus, get a behind-the-scenes look at a surreal press row moment with Pistons legend Rick Mahorn. What does this performance say about Boston’s championship aspirations? Don’t miss this candid postgame analysis of the Celtics’ path forward.
1:00 Celtics vs. Pistons Recap
11:00 Jaylen Brown’s Duality
21:00 Bench Production Concerns
28:00 Individual Performances Breakdown
30:45 Celtics’ Zone Defense
34:00 Rick Mahorn & Pumpkin Pie Story
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Locked On Celtics is a daily Boston Celtics podcast by Boston Sports Journal beat writer John Karalis. It’s an inside look at the C’s from a former professional basketball player who is at practices & games.
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30 Comments
Too much criticism on JB. He had a great game. No one was hitting anything, he had to force something. He made great D playes down the stretch. He had only one turnover in the 4th and you guys acting like he had ten. Outside of missing FT he had an amazing game, even in the second half.
Thanks for the pod John. I know I'm a broken record here, but there were some really terrible 3 point shots-they need to be more selective.
Great Mahorn story
The issue with the Celtics is that they lack talent, in the 4th quarter Mazzula went with Pritchard, Simmons and White, that is just a very small team, against a team that is more athletic, bigger and taller…I just didn't understand that lineup.
MVP JB 🍀✅👍🏻 just has no help, the pistons had 47 points off there bench compared to Celtics 14 smh 🤦🏾♂️
Putrid is the word that comes to mind for that second half. And why call up Amari but then give him a DNP against a team that was so much bigger? Nice to see White hit big shots in crunch time, but they were all for naught. They got bullied much of the game and JB, you’re that dude, but for God’s sakes hit your damn free throws. SO frustrating.
Thanks John ☘️🔒🐾
John, just goes to show you, you can't have your (pumpkin) pie and eat it too
☘️☘️👊
Same issue most often in every loss: inconsistency in offensive execution. Expected from a team with a lot of young less experienced players, but not so much from the play of veteran championship players. I'll chalk up these last two games to "Shit happens" and see how we do on Friday.
💚☘☘☘
JB just needs help. Not the problem
Team’s been fun this year, but the personnel is punching above its weight. The OFF v DEF trade off when Queta is out makes the highly reliant on explosive scoring to stay in games. When they go cold they get run
Biggest problem we have is we're small. Rebounding was such an issue. We badly need a backup big who can rebound well. Josh at the 5 experiment is done now. Its been bad for a few games already.
And when we,'re small, since we play slow, we're just getting bullied out there. Small ball works when you play fast and make 3s. The Cs didnt do either this game.
The refs tried their best to help Boston. Brown had 14 free throws, and Cade had only 4. 'Nuff said.
That whole own worst enemy thing is a side effect of playing the pistons
Thanks John
Awesome Mahorn story! It’s crazy what this job gives you sometimes.
Had a Run TMC poster as a kid. Loved them. Fast forward 20 years & I get introduced to Chris Mullen through a client. I start telling him my name & he cuts me off and says “I know who you are”.
One of the coolest moments of my career. Ended up chatting for the 1st half of a game.
I’m just gonna say this is how I did not want to lose games this season. Not the mist shots not the excessive iso play or turnovers… it was the minute distribution that bothered me. I did not want to watch Joe ride the vets into a loss. I thought Amari should’ve gotten some minutes, I thought Josh and Jordan were on tight leashes in this game and Simon playing 25 minutes? Next to Pritchard against the Pistons? make it make sense. Of this season should be development, you take the wins and the washes that come with it but development should be the priority. I have been praising Joe for letting the young guys rock. But I did not like the minute distribution. Try Amari at the 5 and Josh at the 4.. don’t just pull Josh if he isn’t playing well at the 5.. adjust. Jordan should have gotten a chance in the 4th. Idk man that’s my only complaint really
It was self inflicted but your opponent force your hand for it to even be self inflicted tho… Self-infliction comes from trying to do too much or doing things that's uncharacteristic of your style.. that goes around in the World of Sports.. I guarantee you the pacers won't make the Celtics self-inflict themselves.. give those Detroit Boyz credit.. that's a REAL LEGIT squad.. the Pistons are always bullying and making teams do things that they really don't want to do because they're trying to keep up with them.. they make you play out of your comfort zone
Coming back to earth, over matched..
1/2 from Walsh isnt bad. Maybe he could've taken a couple of more, but he shot 50% from 3. White has & Hauser haven't been shootin' good this year.
Where is the inconsistent Hauser ??? Since the new contract never play well. And always is injured.
I saw it coming with turnovers but it's not the end 😢☘️☘️
gg I thought
It would be nice if we were able to acquire Bobby Portis
Damn John. If Luka or Anthony Edwards had the same game and lost, I figure all your talking about is the rest of the team. He and Derrick is all we have. " I'm not just getting on Jaylen". As he's getting on Jaylen. Payton Pritchard is killing us. He only plays well when we're blowing somebody out. When we need him in a tough game against a tough team he fades into the bushes like Homer Simpson. And I'm done with Hauser and Simons
Brown outplayed cade in the 4th…… tell me you are a blind homer….. so hit and miss with locked on shows….
It was just a really poor second half, a frustrating one honestly. They got some open shots, and they got demoralized missing them. It showed on the defensive side of the ball and late in the game in terms of lack of urgency.
"They had it, they should have won it…" What game were you watching? It was either team's game the whole time…and I didn't really see anything that told me that the Celtics should have won that game. LMAO
Its a stretch to say that Derrick White out played Cade Cunningham in the 4th!!! He shot 3s and thats all he does. Hes not a great defender. Cade won the game in the 4th so…. Cade out played all the Celtics really 😂😂😂
Boston loss because of Detroit defense. Detroit missed a lot of 3s and free throws too. Miss me with the excuses bum.