The anatomy of a comeback

There was one common sentiment as the Celtics made ANOTHER comeback last night…

… how the hell are they pulling this off??

Utah is really good. They might have both the Rookie of the Year AND Defensive Player of the Year. They’ve got a good coach… they were at home… and they NEEEEEEEDED that game.

But there they were… coming back and winning a game. So how did they do it?

I broke down that last two-plus minutes on Boston.com, which included this bit of bad coaching by Quin Snyder that is being overlooked today.

Time: 00:40
Score: 94-94
The bad coaching decision by the opponent

The Celtics miss, and Utah puts the ball into Ricky Rubio’s hands with :40 left. There is plenty of time here to push the ball up the floor and see if they can get a bucket within 10-12 seconds, trust in one of the best defenses in the league to force a miss, and then get time for a final shot if the Celtics pull off a miracle.

Instead, Utah dribbles it down to :30 before initiating the play. The 2-for-1 is out the window and they’re now in a position where they have to score just in case Boston comes up with a miracle.

Crowder gets the first pass of the play with :08 on the shot clock. Tatum closes out and by the time Crowder gets it back, he is forced to shoot. It’s a disaster of a possession for Utah who could have probed a Celtics defense in transition and, if nothing presented itself, adjusted with this same halfcourt set.

They didn’t even try. They put pressure on themselves to score here and left themselves susceptible to the miracle because now Boston has time to set a play. Terrible decision by Utah and great defense by Boston.

There was a lot more that went into this, obviously. I have it all… from the defensive adjustment, the ballsy clutch play, and the miracle… all on Boston.com.