The Boston Celtics and the Hawks’ duel left an open wound in NBA history, even though the Celtics marched the Palisades with their 30-point lead, however, Hawks chased them and flipped the score with the Celtics fully ahead by 30 points. These two unlikely teams thrash modern-day basketball’s traditional concepts, showing the instability of the game, with comebacks often uprooting current standing, power, and guards.
The go-ahead three-pointer of Al Horford seemed to immediately establish the dominance of the Celtics, and the Road Troops had no answer for that down the bench. But the firm-minded champions of the Hawk set off on a ruthless charge and vie forthwith in a guarded way with the luck of the Celtics negating it bit by bit with well-aimed plays and timely scores.
with the Hawks reducing the deficit and regaining control of the game, Joe Mazzulla the Celtics coach credited the defeat with evident lessons learned, he certainly understood the value of maintaining alertness and composure when the going is tough.
It is not the first occasion when the Boston Celtics came across these predicaments since some of the previous games saw them giving away better chances of winning the game, which triggered the media scrutiny and introspection of the team. Even though they are strikingly undefeated throughout this season, the reality that the Celtics are often required to bounce back after blowing double-digit leads indicates that not only perfect performances but persistent strength and groundedness should be the key values towards playoffs.
While this margin probably will not greatly affect the Celtics’ success in the normal season, such a lapse behaves like a million-dollar wake-up call and it should alert everybody on the team that such complacency and inconsistency are fatal flaws that could put their championship ambition at high risk.
The Celtics’ way to oblivion by collapsing to the Atlanta Hawks in the postseason game, becomes a reminder to every NBA team about the dangers of life. A team winning a race has to be fiercely focused and tough enough to defy the competitors who are relentless in their competition. Teams need to be able to play through unexpected setbacks and win to minimize the devastation of losing. For the fighters who have devoted all their life to this art of fisticuff, each tilt amounts to a life and death struggle, and as such, unequivocal and undefeated determination demands unwavering commitment and adaptability from players and coaches alike.
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