The Celtics go to film school

Giving up 26-0 and 22-0 runs on the road — and even 16-0 at home — is no way to win a playoff series.

With that out of the way, the Celtics got down to business on Monday afternoon by watching film and talking about ways to prevent the extended runs the Washington Wizards have used to build double-digits leads in each of the first four games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, which is now tied 2-2.

“Our focus is not on Game Three and Game Four,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said during a conference call following a film session on Monday, “with the exception of learning from Game Three and Game Four what we can do to be better (in Game Five on) Wednesday.”

Providence Journal/Metro West Daily

Scott Souza with a write-up on how the Celtics spent their off-day. It pretty much highlights what’s good and bad about this year’s team. Yeah, they’ve given up some truly mind blowing runs–and have looked borderline incompetent for large stretches in six of their last ten games.

But they’ve also won six of their last ten games. Part of that is because Stevens and the team have, all season long, been very good at keeping one game from spilling over into the next.

So now, while Keef is kicking back because he’s convinced that the Wizards are ‘better than’ the team that finished ahead of them in the standings, the Celtics are working on stuff.

Yes, this is a team that looks like it could lose to the Washington Generals from time to time. But this is also a team that won 50+. They’re both things at once.

In an era of ‘takes’ and a voracious appetite for content that can be digested in seconds, Stevens’ Celtics take a nuanced approach to the game. They know that there isn’t “one weird trick” to beating the Wizards. They don’t paint things black and white, and they don’t–generally–provide ammo to people that do.

I fully expect the Celtics to take care of business against the Wizards, possibly in six games, because once the Celtics get things figured out, they’re a pretty scary team. Just ask the Bulls.