The Boston Celtics have seemingly lost their identity in their past two games against the Miami Heat. With a critical Game 3 coming up on Saturday, former Celtics star and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins shared his thoughts on Boston’s recent performances … and he doesn’t sound too happy.
On ESPN’s “Get Up” Perkins says the Celtics’ struggles are coming from their selfish offensive play. He also states that they’ve completely broken down defensively, letting Bam Adebayo have his way in the paint.
It’s surprising to hear Perkins say the C’s are playing selfish basketball, especially considering the fact that many fans blamed those types of issues on former point guard Kyrie Irving, but he’s not wrong.
When looking at shooting percentages, things look fine for Boston. In Game 2, the Celtics shot 50 % from the field and 35.7 % from three-point range. Then you continue to look down the stat sheet, though, and can infer that they’ve probably been a little selfish.
During Thursday night’s game, Boston had just 19 total assists compared to Miami’s 27. The Celtics also had a whopping 20 turnovers. While Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum were dishing the ball, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker took things into their own hands, which proved to be costly for the Celtics.
If they want any chance at beating Miami in Game 3, they’ll have to start playing like a team. However, after going down two games to none, it appears like Boston is imploding. The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn reported a lot of yelling and arguing could be heard from the Celtics locker room following their Game 2 loss, but every player who spoke after the game downplayed their frustrations and denied any arguments.
With the Heat clicking on all cylinders and the Celtics seemingly disconnected, it’s going to be a rough battle for Boston to climb back into this series.
Erin Walsh is a Boston sports fan through and through. Although many think Boston sports fans are insufferable, Erin tries to see things from a neutral perspective. Her passion is hockey, and she believes defense wins championships. In addition to covering sports for Yardbarker, she covers Boston sports for NBC Sports Boston. Follow her on Twitter @ewalsh90
