The Boston Celtics can't get out of their own way.
The first two games of their Eastern Conference semifinals series vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers were eerily similar to the first round against the Miami Heat. After dominating Game 1, the Celtics were outclassed on their home floor in Game 2.
The difference? Miami erupted for a franchise playoff record 23 3-pointers in its win over Boston. On Thursday, the Celtics were simply outplayed and outworked on both ends of the floor.
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It wasn't that they lost, it was how they lost. The 24-point loss marked their second-largest margin of defeat all season. They shot just 22.9 percent from 3-point range -- their second-lowest mark of the campaign -- while allowing a whopping 60 points in the paint. Cleveland also shot 13-of-28 from beyond the arc, including 7-for-10 in the third quarter when Boston missed all eight of its attempts.
Our Chris Forsberg came away perplexed by how the Celtics continue to lose focus in the playoffs. On Friday's Arbella Early Edition, he explained why even if the Game 2 loss to Cleveland doesn't cost them, their performance left him wary about the rest of the postseason.
"You saw last round, right? I lost my mind after Game 2. What do they do? They come back, win three in a row. Everyone's like, 'Look, you fool. You lost your mind for no reason.' Maybe I'll do the same here, but it's troubling to me that we keep coming back to this, that it has to be a discussion after every couple of games," Forsberg said.
"I don't know why they keep hitting the same speed bumps in the road, why they can't learn from some of their past transgressions. And the one thing I keep trying to tell people is it didn't hurt when it happened against Miami. It might not hurt when it happened against Cleveland. It's gonna hurt at some point.
"Go back to '22, ran out of gas in the Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Go back to '23 (in the Eastern Conference Finals), put yourself in a Game 7 situation where Jayson Tatum turns an ankle and now you're losing that one. It might just come up and creep up on you, and at the worst possible moment. So I just hope they understand there is a value to staying locked in, which, ironically, they were for much of the regular season. And yet, here it is in the playoffs."
Perhaps this year's Celtics team is different. They were an NBA-best 64-18 in the regular season, their fourth-best record in franchise history. They're undoubtedly the most talented group of the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era.
But until they can prevent "unacceptable" efforts like Thursday's, there will be valid questions about whether they're built to withstand the postseason grind.
The Celtics will look to bounce back in Game 3 as the series shifts to Cleveland. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live on NBC Sports Boston.
Watch the full "Early Edition" segment below:
