The Boston Celtics saw their four-game win streak come to an end on Sunday night, as they suffered an ugly 102-92 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were playing this one without superstar guard Anthony Edwards. A 15-point fourth quarter doomed the C's, as they struggled to generate any sort of rhythm on offense late in this game.
While the Celtics have generally looked solid since getting Jayson Tatum back from a torn Achilles tendon, they have gone through spurts where they appear confused on offense. If you ask NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, he thinks that Tatum's sudden return has created some issues that Boston is going to have to work through.
“I don’t want to say it seems out of whack, but their shooting has gone down since he’s been here," McGrady said after the C's latest loss. "It’s really like ‘guys, what are we doing here? Are we running the same stuff that we ran before? Are we still on the same page? Or are we divided because we’re not playing our same game?’ I’m sure there’s a lot mentally that these guys are going through because of the insertion of JT.”
Without Tatum on the floor for the majority of the season, the C's created a new offensive identity. Understandably, anytime a player of his caliber returns to the court, it's going to change the dynamic of that offense. As a result, there will be times when Boston looks lost because it is figuring out in real time what this new offense will look like.
Regular-season losses like this certainly hurt, but as long as the Celtics get things figured out in time for the playoffs, they should be fine. Boston will enjoy a couple of days off before returning to the court on Wednesday night for a tough matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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