The Boston Celtics have managed to pull off some pretty impressive comebacks this season despite a serious trade exodus in the 2025 NBA offseason. But when Boston has faced the better teams in the league, the margins for errors shrinks as it did in their loss to the New York Knicks at TD Garden this past Sunday (Feb. 8) afternoon.
Boston started off ice cold from the floor in this game. And while several serious pushes were put together by the Celtics in this contest, the team simply did not have the horses to get control of the game back. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla shared his thoughts on why Boston couldn't wrest control back from New York in the 111-89 loss, saying that "when you play against a great team like them, and you continue to have empty possessions on the offensive end, but a good process of execution, it just puts a ton of pressure on the other stuff, and then they’re really good at that."
"Whether it’s their shot making, whether it’s their fouling, whether it’s their offensive rebounds; you can only hold down the fort for so long," he added.
"So, I thought we showed a great ability to try to get there, get it back to five," suggested the Celtics coach. "I thought we got some great looks, but they put a ton of pressure just kind of on your defense throughout, and you have to be able to answer the call there, and we can shoot a little bit better."
"We can get some more offensive rebounds. We can execute a little bit better, but I thought our defense worked to hold the fort down as long as we could."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Mazzulla on why margin of error shrinks for Celtics vs. Knicks