
Can the Boston Celtics overcome their playoff struggles against the New York Knicks? With star players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at the forefront, the Celtics face critical challenges in clutch situations. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal breaks down the Celtics' performance in Games 1 and 2, highlighting the team's need for better shot selection and mental resilience. He discusses how Tatum and Brown can adjust their play, emphasizing the importance of off-ball movement and strategic coaching decisions. The episode also touches on the roles of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday in alleviating pressure on the Celtics' stars. Explore the tactical insights and potential adjustments that could redefine the Celtics' playoff journey. Listen now for an in-depth analysis of their path to success.
Loading summary
John Corrales
Foreign podcast network your team every day.
Jake Madison
This is Jake from Lock Dawn. When the game's on the line, the best know when to pass. Because the right assist can change everything. And off the court, it's no different. That's where your State Farm agent comes in. Whether it's protecting your car, your home, or helping you prep for the unexpected, they'll help set you up with a game plan that works for for you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state.
T-Mobile Announcer
Introducing Family Freedom from T Mobile.
We'll pay off four phones up to.
3, 200 and give you four free phones, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com familyfreedom.
Up to 800 per line via virtual prepaid card. Typically takes 15 days. Free phone via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement. Example Apple iPhone 16128 gigs 829.99 Eligible trade in example iPhone Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due if you pay off early or cancel, contact.
John Corrales
Us.
RXBar Announcer
At our X Bar. They believe in simple nutrition without the bs. That's why they said NO to artificial ingredients and yes to deliver intentional transparent nutrition. Try their original 12 gram protein bar, the nut butter and oat bar or Minis RXBar, the proud sponsor of no BS. Use code RXBar on RXBar.com for 25% off, subject to full terms and conditions and to change. Valid until September 30, 2025 and may not. Combined with other offers. See rxbar.com for full details and limitations.
John Corrales
The Game 2 collapse is a direct reaction to the Game 1 collapse. We'll look at that. The clutch problems that the Celtics are having and how Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown should react to games one and two and being down oh two. It's all right now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Huh? Yep.
Lockdown Celtics Promo Voice
Recognize the city of champs back to back if I say it is stamped locked on number 19 the best one the next one juice loose in your pool now for the next run it's the seeds who else could it be? What they gonna say now screaming like J.T. corralis recap the madness every game, every practice best daily pod no cap like Brad Beckett clutch like Drew the KP tap in daily prime time Depp and T White on the sideline Ren and Jace how we started raising banners how we finished locked on Celtics pod home of the winners.
John Corrales
Hey there. Welcome back to the Lockdown Celtics podcast right here on the Lockdown Podcast network. Where it's your team every day. I got you covered every Monday through Friday. Plus, bonus podcast like Saturday night after the Boston Celtics go to MSG and will win game three. Yes, I'm saying it right now. They will win game three. I will be here after they win. I'm telling you right now. So make sure you're subscribed. Watch the show on YouTube, get into that comment section. Lots of comments. Lots of Knicks fans feeling themselves in the comments. And I get it. So we'd love to have you jump in there and help me out. I'm John Corrales. I'm covering the Celtics for Boston Sports Journal. I've been covering the Celtics for about 20 years now, and I've written a couple books, so make sure you're checking those out today. We're talking about a few different things here. How Tatum and Brown should react to games one and two, how they should be playing in game three. We'll talk about clutch issues in the second segment, but I want to start off by talking about the game one, Game two, It looked so similar, but the shot selection that we were talking about in game one, it wasn't the same as game two. I think a lot of people, first of all came out of game two thinking, like, I hear a lot of the same things. They kind of lumped games one and two together. And every time the Celtics missed a three pointer, it was, see, that's what I'm talking about. Three pointers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Take too many. And they did take too many in game one. I think game two was a reaction to game one in a couple of different ways. Think when you look back at it, there were a couple of plays where the drives should have been kicks. There should have been drive and kick. And I think they just drove. And part of me says there was a reaction to the backlash of all the too many threes talk. And the Celtics, I think, might have let that get to them a little bit. And knowing that some of those shots that they took in game one were. Should have been, you know, drives, but drives right read right play. I think the Celtics did a better job of driving in game two down the stretch. First of all, not finishing, second of all, not kicking. And I think that was part of the problem. The Celtics in Game 1, it felt like they put. They went up 20. The Knicks made their run and they said, no problem, we're going to put them away. Just hit a couple of threes here. Tatum feels confident in his shot. Everybody feels confident in their shot. I'm going to take this three pointer miss. Ah. All right, get back. But every time they missed the Knicks hit a shot, they did something and it started to cascade. And the Celtics felt like it was almost like that gambler's fallacy where I feel due. I got to make one of these. And you get into that. Well, now I need to make a three because they're starting to get close and we need to get some separation. I think they played a little bit of a mental game with themselves, and in game two, it went kind of like the other way. It was almost the bizarro version of the threes that they took were, Were fine. The drives that they took, I thought maybe, maybe a little problematic. And Al Horford, he said an interesting thing at the media availability on Thursday because he said he wasn't thinking about game one. He said, but just us squandering a lead away, definitely thinking about that in that moment. Not necessarily thinking about the first game, but definitely trying to kind of salvage that. That went into the mind. We weren't able to handle it and pull the game out. So the direct correlation between, oh, God, not again. And the types of shots that they took, I think contributed to that. Horford himself. And you don't normally see Horford try to force some things, but there's one play in particular where he was backing down might have been Carl Anthony Towns. He went into the post and he's like, I'm going to try to score. I think, I think the Celtics looked at one another and said, oh, God, we're not scoring. I have to do something. And that's where you get into trouble. And I think the Celtics got themselves into trouble mentally, and they, they got away. They got away from the things that work. Now, obviously there's the make miss stuff as well, and that plays into it. If you're not making shots, you're. It's you. You're gonna have the problems of viewing a comeback off of your misses. Look, my, My analysis, I. I really try to break things down, and I pride myself on being able to do some things, you know, know this, Know the game and kind of break down and, and see a couple of things that maybe not everybody sees. But, you know, I did my big Q A on Boston Sports Journal on Thursday, and, you know, I, I get asked about adjustments, adjustments, adjustments. I, I don't think there are a lot of adjustments to be made here. It's. Clear your minds and make your shots. Okay. On the YouTube page, I'm going to show you five different screenshots that I took. I'll talk you through it on the audio side, but I want people if you're on the YouTube or maybe Mark it down in your head. If you're, if you're listening, open up the YouTube page. Go to like the 645 mark where I start to show these screenshots here of the Celtics in the fourth quarter after having gone up by 20. Now they're in the fourth quarter and the lead is starting to dwindle. And this is their big scoreless stretch. The first one, 741, Peyton Pritchard with his feet on the end of the garden logo. A few feet behind the three point line, but that's Pritchard's sweet spot. Closest defender to him. Nowhere, nowhere close. There's, it looks like OG and Anobi at the top of the key. So he's a solid seven, eight feet away. Carl Anthony Towns is like 10ft away. No one, no one around him. That has to be a make. Next one. Al Horford, right corner. The closest defender to him. The Al is in the right corner. The literal closest defender to him is OG Anunoby with a foot in the paint on the. Actually both feet in the paint on the right block. That has to be a make. Derrick White, a few minutes, about a minute and a half later, wide open, top left corner. Carl Anthony towns about 5ft away and not moving towards him either. No one's around. Derrick White. That has to be a make. Jason Tatum, right corner. We saw this play. That has to be a make. Right corner. You got Josh Hart, what, eight, nine feet away, running towards him. And Tatum had, it felt like forever. Now on this play, Al Horford is in the middle of the lane. Jalen Brunson has fallen. There is some criticism and you can criticize a lot of these plays for, hey, maybe you could just drive it. Maybe on this play you pass it. Just you have Al Horford wide open. Just hit him with a pass, let him dunk it. That's a bucket. Take that bucket. It's three minutes and 40 seconds to go, but also Jayson Tatum in the corner with all the time in the world. This is a warm up shot. And the last one, Jalen Brown, top of the key. No one near him at all. Jalen Brunson is easily 10 plus feet away. 10ft away to his right. Then there's Derek White at the free throw line with Karl Anthony Towns on him. This has to be a make. But now also, again, you have options off of these. And this gets into the clutch. Play those, those have to be makes. At least. I showed five. I talked about five. You're telling me two of those can't be makes at all? Two, and that's six points. And that at various times that puts pressure. Now the Knicks are taking the ball out of the hoop. You're setting your defense. It's a little bit easier to go back, rebound and do all of those things. You. I said this on yesterday's podcast. It still holds. These guys are paid a ton of money. Sometimes the analysis goes away and it's just make your shots, make your shots. He got a lot of questions. Joe Missoula being out coached. Was he out coached? I think he's out coached. They should fire him. Well, no one was saying he was out coached when the Celtics were up 20. If the Celtics make two of those shots, three of those shots. No one's talking about being out coached. The Celtics win that. Not only do they win that, you go up six late in the game, you get foul, you play the foul game. That could end up being a double digit game just based on free throws. You win at home by double digits. You win at home game one, game two, just by making some shots. No one's talking about being out coached. So that's. It's as simple as that. But they aren't doing it. What is going on in the clutch? I'll talk about that when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by DoorDash NBA fans. You know what time it is playoff season. There are big performances and bigger rewards. DoorDash is bringing the heat with a slam dunk deal for Dash Pass members during the 2025 playoffs. They call it they swoosh. You score. Whenever a player drops 50 or more points in a playoff game, Dash Pass members score a free three piece Crispy Tenders combo from Wingstop. The very next day, you just got to place a $20 order and you get the three piece crispy tenders combo with the code Wingstop50 at checkout. The day after somebody scores 50, that combo is yours. Crispy, delicious and totally free. It's valid between noon and midnight. The day after somebody drops 50. If you've ever looked at your delivery fees and thought there's gotta be a better way, well, with Dash Pass, you get zero dollar delivery fees and exclusive perks like this one. And you know, considering how much you might be ordering, you could save a lot over the course of a season. So here's the play. Sign up for Dash Pass to unlock this and more exclusive deals all postseason long next season, whenever a player scores 50 for the rest of these playoffs, Dash Pass members can grab a free three piece crispy tenders combo from Wingstop the next day with a 20 plus dollar order and the code Wingstop50. That's Dash Pass your door to more savings, more flavor and more ways to win. Terms apply.
T-Mobile Announcer
Introducing Family Freedom from T Mobile.
We'll pay off four phones up to.
3, 200 and give you four free phones all on America's largest 5G network. Visit T Mobile.comFamilyFreedom up to $800 per.
Line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement example Apple iPhone 16128 gigs $829.99 Eligible trade in example iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due. If you pay off early or cancel contact us.
John Corrales
Thank you so much for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen. Every day go check out Lockdown NBA game night. We'll be talking about the warriors and the Timberwolves. The only playoff game. I will be there with Jake Madison talking about that game. So make sure you're subscribed on the Locked on NBA feed. Check it out wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. The Celtics have clutch problems. No doubt about that. They are. They, they struggle sometimes. A lot of times here the, I think the, the number I don't have it right in front of me -26 this season now in the last five minutes of close games, I can't shake the feeling that this season, the habits of the earlier part of the regular season are starting to seep into the playoffs here. Remember last year where the Celtics found ways to close out games, they found ways to win. They found ways to pile up those wins. And, and even though they won 60 games this year and I thought like they had turned a corner and flipped the switch and all that stuff, there was a lot of concern in December and January about what the clutch numbers looked like and I didn't make much of it. I thought they were going to be able to figure it out. It looked like they had figured it out. And you know, in that first game again, the first series against Orlando, they won that in in five. They were able to make the plays when they needed to. But you know, Orlando was not a great offensive team. And the Knicks are and the Knicks are able to make mistakes into points. They turn mistakes that the Celtics are making into points. And the clutch issue stems from the Celtics lack Of. We talk about poise. The Celtics are impacted by their misses. The Al Horford quote from before where he says, I was thinking about these misses. The clutch mentality is not about, oh, God, we got a. Oh, my. We're. We're really hemorrhaging points here. It's about, all right, we score. They. They scored. We made a mistake. No problem. Let's come down. Let's run our stuff. Let's run our stuff, and let's just be. Let's just be us. The clutch mentality is coming down, forgetting about what just happened, not reacting to just what. What just happened. The Celtics are in this pattern of, okay, he's not doing this. I have to do it. Jason and Jalen are starting to get into trouble like they did two years ago. Jason trying to take some of these turnaround jumpers. I've seen him kind of force things. I also think they're tired. There's also the fatigue factor is setting in at the end of these games. The physicality has. Has jumped. The Celtics are not reacting to it particularly great, and it's wearing them down. And late in the game, I think they're losing their legs. Tatum is taking these turnaround fadeaways. He's over rotating. You can see him kind of like swinging his body around, over rotating, releasing the ball. He's kind of. He finds. He finds himself short. He finds himself off. It's. It's just not. It's not a fluid shot. It's not a turn square fade to create a little bit of space so you can get that look off. A fade away is fine. I have no problem with these guys fading away. I've been saying Jason Tatum post fadeaway is like the Dirk Nowitzki shot. That. That's a money shot for him. That has to be the shot that he makes to finish games off. If he had that in his bag, Paul Pierce style. I said this on yesterday's podcast. If he had that Paul Pierce, get to my spot. Turn, fade. That's money. You need that in your bag. That's where you. You shut down comebacks. You don't. He. They don't have a go to. Jason Tatum, for all of his greatness, does not have the go to shot. That one thing where you're like, okay, you know, even like Chris Paul, you know, you know, when Chris Paul got into that mid range, you're like, that's. That's money. Certain guys have these shots, you know, it's Kevin Durant, you know, guys have these kind of like signatures. A Spot on the floor where you're like, I'm not going to go there all the time, but when we need a bucket, I can live there for four or five possessions. And that's where Tatum, I think, needs to take another step. But in these clutch situations, Tatum and Brown especially needs. But the whole Celtics team need to calm down, forget about what just happened and run a play. And more than that, everybody on the floor needs to be doing something. Tatum is trying to take guys off the dribble. Jalen's trying to take guys off the dribble. The, the Knicks are sagging off of guys in, you know, the shooters who are trying to space. They're, they're playing just far enough away where they can be a deterrent, but they can also get back. And they're trying to kind of toe that line. It's almost like a base runner on first base in baseball where he's trying to figure out, okay, how far can I go to draw the throw but still get back and mess with the pitcher. Now, I know there's a pitch, a limit to how many times you can go over. Now. I'm an old school guy. I don't really pay attention to much baseball anymore. I remember when you used to be able to throw over there all the time and runners used to really get into the pitcher's head. It's not that old school, but it's the same idea of like, I'm going to go this far and you, you want to pass it, you can try to pass it, but oh, nope, I'm going to get back over. So how do you combat that? The Celtics don't run as much off ball action as they should. We've talked about on the show before, run your off ball stuff. Guys need to be doing stuff off the ball. So Tatum has options. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a little pin down, even switching spots, even something as simple as switching spots. So just say Tatum is at the top of the key. He's got the switch onto Carl Anthony Towns and Jalen Brown is on his, on his right side with Al Horford in the corner. Well, instead of standing there, just go and set a screen and, or, or just do something to like switch places. So you had Josh Hart, who's covering Jalen Brown, just turns his head a little bit. Just turns. And it's like, okay, I got to look this way and get his attention somewhere else. Get him to turn his head, get him to look, get him to flinch, do something to occupy the minds of the defenders. On either side. So Tatum can be like, oh, boom, go. Okay, now I, now I can go. Because that, that half second of turning and being like switch is enough time to bust Carl Anthony Towns, which you should be able to do. You can bust past that, whoever you've got at the top of the key. Mitchell Robinson off ball action. This is all part of clutch. So get out of your own heads. Get out of your own heads. This I'm going to continue this because this is Tatum and Brown stuff. This is Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum getting out of your own heads. And Zach Lowe mentioned this and I want to touch on what Brian Scalabrini said about the being fractured. It's all coming up when I come back. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over at Amazon Fire TV. If you have the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K device, you have an Xbox. Yeah, it's all the same thing and no console required. Just grab yourself a paired controller. Subscribe or sign into Xbox Game Pass ultimate with EA Play included, you're ready to play. Dive into hundreds of premium titles from EA Sports College Football 25 to Call of Duty, Black Ops 6 and avowed as easily as you stream your favorite shows, it's Gaming Made simple and it's all on your Fire TV. They have endless entertainment. With 4K streaming, you can watch more than 1.5 million movies and TV episodes from your favorite subscribed services like Netflix Prime Video, Disney plus Max and more. I travel a lot here for these playoffs especially. I can grab the Amazon Fire TV stick and bring it with me. And if I want a game, if I have some downtime in my hotel, I just bring my paired controller. I can play video games in my hotel room. If I want to watch something on a streaming service, it's right there. You never know what a hotel, what channels they have, what channels they don't personalize this stuff. It's super easy. And if you're traveling with the kids, having a console, but not really a console there so they can play and be entertained is great. Head to Amazon.com firetv locked on to get started. Xbox Game Pass ultimate subscription and compatible controller is required. Available on select devices including Fire TV Stick 4K, second generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max first and second generation and Fire TV Cube third gen on Fox One. You can stream your favorite news, sports and entertainment live all in one app. It's an unfiltered this is the best thing ever.
Lockdown Celtics Promo Voice
Watch breaking news as it breaks.
John Corrales
Breaking. Tonight, we're following two major stories. Catch History. Victory in the making. Debates, drama, touchdown. It's all here, baby. Fox one, we live for live streaming now. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Go to lockdown Knicks. Hey, let's keep up with the enemy. Let's. And you know what, get into their YouTube page and fight, fight. Let them know. Let them know, hey, last year you had a 20 lead. 2. How did that go? Right. The Knicks had a 20 lead last year against the Pacers and lost. So let's just not get all worked up yet. There's still time. So go check out locked on Knicks talk your talk your your talk over in their YouTube feed. Tatum and Brown are obviously the keys here, but when I talk about the clutch issues and mentality, they have to be the leaders here. And Tatum has said, he said at the media availability on Thursday, quote, I take full ownership on the way I've played this series. I can't sugarcoat anything. I need to be better. I expect to be a lot better. What does that mean? That means it doesn't mean just scoring 40. Although, I mean, hey, if Tatum wants to be the guy who drops 50 in game three and gets you that Door Dash Wingstop deal, that's fine. He can do that. But it has to happen organically more so. I am focused on the mental aspect of not trying to be any particular thing. You do not have to take over. You do not have to. All you have to do is be you and truly, truly read the game. Give it what it needs, truly take the right shots, make the right passes and stop forcing things. Stop saying I have to. Right, Jaylen Brown? Stop saying I have to. Because when you do that, it all happens naturally. You will. But if you force it. I've said this I don't know how many times the Celtics get into trouble when they hunt specific shots. It doesn't have to be threes. If you shoot 60 three pointers and they're the right shots, I don't give a damn. If you hunt 43 pointers, you're going to get into trouble. That's it. Same thing with shots in the paint. Same thing with certain shots. If you hunt specific shots over and over. Now, I know I just talked about getting to your spot, but that's a little bit different in the clutch, getting to your spot and hitting, taking and making a signature shot. That's, you know, I'm talking about good looks. But I'm saying hunting, we have to get to the rim. That's what I'm talking about. We have to hunt shots at the rim. Right? I'm not talking about like the one fade away shot or, you know, whatever. If you're looking to get. We have to get to the rim. We have to do that. We have to get there and score. That's. That's a recipe for disaster. You. What you have to do is get into a set, you have to drive, you have to get into the paint, but then you have to read from there. Where's the help? What advantages do you have? That's what I'm talking about. Tatum can take advantage of a lot. Jaylen can take advantage of a lot. And if Jaylen's knee is holding him back and he can't hit certain shots, then he has to adjust and become. Use the threat, become a screener, become something else. So Tatum and Brown have to play within themselves. They. The worst thing that could happen is. I know Jason just had this commercial come out for Superman, tying Superman into the NBA playoffs. He cannot go into this game pulling the shirt open and being like Superman. Now, if he does score 50, people are going to use that gift all over social media, and that's fine. But going in there with the specific, I am going to drop 50. That's. I don't think that's going to work for him. He's. It's. It's not. That's not his game. It's, go find your advantages, take those advantages and just capitalize. In fact, in the clutch, I would rather see the ball. I want to see more of the ball in Derrick White and Drew Holiday's hands. If I do have a criticism of Joe Missoula, I explained yesterday that I'm fine with the timeout. I think the, the filing, Mitchell Robinson stuff made sense, and that had no real impact on the game. They didn't. There were no penalty free throws after that. The. The only thing that did was it took away the foul to give later. So minor, a minor impact. Not really that much of an impact. But my real quibble with Missoula would be more Derrick White initiating the offense, more Drew Holiday initiating the offense. Get Tatum and Brown some opportunities to catch the ball on the move and attack a defender on the move, turn a corner, set a screen for him, you know, on the catch and get him to turn the corner, make it a little bit easier for him, either of them, that kind of stuff. So they don't have to do it all. Tatum and Brown do not have to do it all. The power of the Celtics is their, their, their depth there. You know, Derrick White, Drew Holiday, Al Horford, you have to make shots. But I want to see Joe kind of the two things more off ball action and more of of Derrick White and Drew Holiday initiating offense because they're very good with the ball in their hands and takes some of the pressure off of Tatum and Brown and their ball handling, which can get a little dicey sometimes they don't have to handle the ball quite as much. Put the ball in the point guard's hands, let them point guard a little bit. My next podcast will be after Game 3, so make sure you're subscribed to the show. If you're not, if you're an everydayer, thank you so much for being here. I love having you here. I appreciate it as I do my blah blah blah for half an hour every Monday through Friday. Thank you everybody who's come up and said hi at TD Garden. If I see you at msg, make sure you shout out and say hello. And like I said, Bonus podcast coming Saturday I'm security is a little weird at Madison Square Garden, but I think I'll be able to podcast from inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday. So make sure you're subscribed. Watch a show on YouTube, get into the comment section and let everybody know. Let them know that the Celtics aren't dead yet. This is very, very winnable for the Celtics. And then share the podcast. Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It's your team every day.
Electric Vehicle Announcer
You ever wonder how far an EV can take you on one charge? Well, most people drive about 40 miles a day, which means you can do all daily stuff no problem. Go to work, grab the kids at school, get the groceries and still have enough charge to visit your in laws in the next county. But they don't need to know that. And the best part? You won't have to buy gas at all. The way forward is electric. Explore EVs that fit your life at electricforall.org.
John Corrales
What do you think makes the perfect snack?
AMPM Announcer
Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.
John Corrales
Could you be more specific when it's cravenient?
AMPM Announcer
Okay, like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter available right down the street at am, pm or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. pM.
John Corrales
I'm seeing a pattern here.
AMPM Announcer
Well yeah, we're talking about what I.
John Corrales
Crave, which is anything from am pm.
AMPM Announcer
What more could you want?
John Corrales
Stop by AMPM where the snacks and.
AMPM Announcer
Drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience am PM too much good stuff a Prime Members you can listen to this Locked on podcast ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.
Episode: Boston Celtics’ Playoff MELTDOWN A Sign of Deep-Rooted Issues?
Host: John Karalis
Date: May 9, 2025
In this episode, John Karalis dissects the Boston Celtics’ Game 2 collapse against the New York Knicks in the NBA playoffs, arguing that these issues point to deeper mental and systemic problems within the team. Karalis analyzes shot selection differences between Games 1 and 2, explores the increasingly apparent clutch time struggles, and emphasizes the critical role of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s mental approach in leading a turnaround. The discussion is a mix of breakdowns, coach/player quotes, and blunt commentary on where the Celtics keep going astray.
[02:34]
Notable Quote:
"I think a lot of people ... they kind of lumped games one and two together. And every time the Celtics missed a three pointer, it was, see, that's what I'm talking about. Three pointers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Take too many. And they did take too many in game one. I think game two was a reaction to game one in a couple of different ways."
– John Karalis [02:34]
[07:08]
Notable Quote:
"Sometimes the analysis goes away and it's just make your shots, make your shots... If the Celtics make two of those shots, three of those shots. No one's talking about being out coached."
– John Karalis [10:38]
Timestamp for Screenshots Demo (YouTube):
"Go to like the 6:45 mark where I start to show these screenshots here..."
(For podcast listeners, John talks through each key play.)
[14:26]
Notable Quote:
"The clutch mentality is coming down, forgetting about what just happened, not reacting to just what just happened... but the Celtics are in this pattern of, okay, he's not doing this. I have to do it. Jason and Jalen are starting to get into trouble like they did two years ago."
– John Karalis [16:20]
[24:37]
"I take full ownership on the way I've played this series. I can't sugarcoat anything. I need to be better. I expect to be a lot better."
– Jayson Tatum [25:09] (paraphrased and quoted by Karalis)
Notable Quotes:
"The worst thing that could happen is...He cannot go into this game pulling the shirt open and being like Superman..."
– John Karalis, cautioning against Tatum forcing the action [27:20]
"If you hunt 43 pointers, you're going to get into trouble. That's it. Same thing with shots in the paint... If you hunt specific shots over and over... That's a recipe for disaster."
– John Karalis [27:55]
[28:38]
"Put the ball in the point guard's hands, let them point guard a little bit."
– John Karalis [29:50]
On Overreacting to Coaching:
"No one was saying he was out coached when the Celtics were up 20... If the Celtics make two of those shots, three of those shots. No one's talking about being out coached." [10:38]
On Clutch Time Problem:
"The Celtics are impacted by their misses... The clutch mentality is not about, oh, God, we got a—oh, my, we're hemorrhaging points here. It's about, all right, we score. They scored. We made a mistake. No problem. Let's come down. Let's run our stuff. Let's just be us." [16:00]
On Signature Moves:
"Jason Tatum, for all of his greatness, does not have the go-to shot. That one thing where you're like, okay..." [18:04]
On Tatum and Brown's Approach:
"You do not have to take over. You do not have to... All you have to do is be you and truly, truly read the game. Give it what it needs, truly take the right shots, make the right passes and stop forcing things. Stop saying I have to." [25:48]
Karalis is candid, analytical, and draws on both stats and his long-term experience covering the Celtics. He’s critical but constructive—blunt about the team’s failings while offering practical observations for improvement, all delivered in a matter-of-fact, sometimes exasperated tone.
This episode will resonate with Celtics fans searching for answers, and Karalis offers a mix of tactical analysis and locker-room psychology, underscoring how the team’s deepest issues can only be solved on the court—by their stars and their mindset, not by “miracle” coaching tweaks.