New center Nikola Vucevic and the Celtics were at a loss against the Knicks.
New center Nikola Vucevic and the Celtics were at a loss against the Knicks.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
The Celtics know a butt-kicking when they see one and they walked away late Sunday afternoon knowing they had been soundly beaten by a team they could see in the playoffs.
The Knicks came to Boston having been embarrassed in Detroit and looking to atone after their eight-game winning streak was snapped. They were sharper than the Celtics, capitalized on Boston’s mistakes, and there were plenty, and New York’s 111-89 win at TD Garden could serve as a useful lesson for the Celtics as they prepare for the unofficial second half.
A flat performance was not surprising considering the Celtics had won five in a row with high-intensity games in Dallas, Houston, and on Friday against Miami, when they rallied from a 22-point deficit.
They played like a team that needed a break, a reset with their new center Nikola Vucevic, a practice or two to get back to fundamentals.
So the spirit in the locker room was far from sullen. The Celtics realize they have accomplished many of their midseason goals, are tied with the Knicks for second in the East, and will get a week off after Wednesday’s game against the Bulls to prepare for the final third of the season.
The Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns outmuscled Celtics Luka Garza (left) and Neemias Queta for a rebound.
The Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns outmuscled Celtics Luka Garza (left) and Neemias Queta for a rebound.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
They wouldn’t allow a poor offensive performance to ruin the big picture but the Knicks did expose some weaknesses.
“There’s a high level of physicality and execution that’s required when you play against great teams,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “And so we played great basketball for a long time, you know, in this small stretch, and have taken the game to that level of physicality and execution. Tonight wasn’t our best tonight. [The Knicks] took it to that level of physicality and execution. And so I think that’s what you take from it, right? There’s a level that you can get to, and now you got to work to stay there as long as you can. We did it for a great, really good stretches of time here recently and tonight.”
The Celtics missed 34 of 41 3-point attempts Sunday and are shooting 22 percent from beyond the arc the past two games. Making threes is essential to the Celtics’ success, and if they aren’t they have to find ways to attack the basket and get to the free throw line.
Vucevic wasn’t as effective in his second game as a Celtic, going 5 for 13 from the field with six rebounds and a minus-24 in 24 minutes. He was acquired to help the Celtics compete in matchups against the mammoth Knicks but they were unable to capitalize on chances in the paint.
The Celtics' Jaylen Brown ran into defensive pressure from Knicks center Mitchell Robinson.
The Celtics' Jaylen Brown ran into defensive pressure from Knicks center Mitchell Robinson.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Neemias Queta struggled with his chances at the rim and spent too much time looking for outlets instead of attacking the paint. In one first-half sequence, he grabbed an offensive rebound and despite 6-foot-2 inch Jalen Brunson as his primary defender, rushed a pass to Payton Pritchard that resulted in a turnover.
On the next timeout, Mazzulla admonished Queta for his lack of aggression. The Celtics now have three legitimate, productive bigs in Vucevic, Queta, and Luka Garza but there remains a process of learning to play together.
Vucevic is going to get his share of open looks from the 3-point line because of the defensive emphasis on Jaylen Brown and Pritchard, but he missed 5 of 6 attempts against the Knicks. And as poorly as Boston played at times on offense through the first 2½ quarters, it found itself just down 5 points midway through the third quarter before scoring one basket in the final 5:47 of the period.
By then the Celtics were down 15 and didn’t have enough energy nor offensive cohesion to make a run. They chalked up the loss to a porous offense, New York’s shot-making, and a team that still needs to get accustomed to the presence of Vucevic.
“Our offense did a good job creating advantages, we just didn’t make them today,” Brown said. “We’ve just got to make some shots we didn’t make today. It happens. They made shots and that was the difference. But we’re still adjusting. We’ve got some changes we made to our lineup. We’re still figuring things out. It’s part of the journey.”
And by trading Anfernee Simons, their top bench scorer, in the Vucevic deal, the Celtics found out how much their offense suffers when Pritchard is struggling. He scored 6 points on 2-for-9 shooting, while Brown and Derrick White combined for more than half the Celtics points. Pritchard has to be productive for the Celtics to score enough against elite teams.
And they found out despite their warts, the Knicks are an elite team.
“I feel like we competed,” Brown said. “We did the stuff, the intangibles we needed to do. We didn’t turn the ball over a lot. We rebounded well. Those are the two things in the past that have been our Achilles’ heel. It came down to the offensive ends. Scoring 89 points is not going to get it done. We’ve got to figure out a way to put the ball in the cup.”
The next two weeks are critical for the Celtics to find a player on the buyout market who can handle the ball and add offense. Losing Simons was costly because he could compensate when the starters were struggling. On Sunday, not counting Brown and White, the other three starters combined for 20 points. Boston’s 34 field goals were the second fewest of the season.
It was a difficult offensive day for a team that will have to find ways to score to play with the elite teams. Getting Vucevic untracked quickly along with adding another scorer should help.
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Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.