Analyzing the Celtics’ clutch shots exposes a single, obvious problem.

Analyzing the Celtics’ clutch shots exposes a single, obvious problem.

Analyzing the Celtics’ last-second attempts highlights a single, obvious problem that first surfaced on NBC Sports Boston.

Every night, the Celtics essentially have the first 47 and a quarter minutes down pat. All that’s left to do is deal with the last fifteen seconds.

Even the most formidable teams in the NBA must eventually prevail in close games to advance to the postseason, and a team’s response in those circumstances can mean the difference between winning a championship and losing it all. Just ask the LeBron James chase-down-winning Warriors, who have 73 wins.

The Celtics’ impressive 52-point rout of Golden State on Sunday proved that they are capable of running any opponent off the court. However, they continue to execute poorly in the closing minutes of games, as demonstrated by Tuesday’s erroneous defeat to the Cavaliers.

The Celtics’ collapse in the last nine minutes of the game, which saw them lose a 22-point lead, and Dean Wade’s 20-point fourth-quarter surge, which momentarily elevated him to the status of Hall of Famer, will be the main memories of the game.

With 19 seconds remaining with the ball in Jayson Tatum’s hands, the Celtics still had a chance to win despite all of their defensive lapses and poor shooting. However, their last attempt was a low percentage one, as has been the case far too often this year.

The game-winning putback by Kristaps Porzingis was eliminated when Darius Garland’s touch with Tatum’s leg was reversed, almost bailing them out with a foul call. (Colleague Chris Forsberg analyzes that play here, detailing all of its 19-dribble woes and some of the bigger problems it suggests).

It’s accurate to say that the Celtics rarely have a decent opportunity to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds of regular or overtime. They’re a pitiful 1 for 12 in these circumstances, and their lone basket, a Tatum finger roll in December, never even made it to the hoop. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham called for an incredibly close basket.

That was a layup, at least. Typical are more like Tuesday’s, in which Tatum made a Kobe Bryant-like 17-foot fallaway with the ball never leaving his hands. Tatum is 1-for-7 overall in similar situations. He has also missed variations of that jumper against the Pistons, Timberwolves, and Nuggets. Even while it may be his least successful attempt overall, it’s still.

They ought to know better because the only NBA Finals run this bunch has ever had was launched by what may have been the greatest play of the Brown-Tatum era, in which Tatum made a buzzer-beating layup against the Nets in the opening round of the 2022 playoffs after everyone had touched the ball.