“Dodged a Bullet”: White Mamba ‘Alarmed’ by Celtics Inconsistencies Following 133-128 Win Over Pacers

While the Celtics pinched out a close 133-128 OT win against the Pacers in Game 1 of the ECF, they have faced flak for not putting together a performance worthy of a #1 seed. ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins sounded off on their offensive schemes and referred to their offense as an “ozempic shot”. At the same time, Brian Scalabrine, famously known as ‘White Mamba’, also confessed that he wasn’t convinced about his former team’s effort.

On the ‘Run It Back’ pod, the Celtics analyst expressed being “alarmed” about his squad’s “inconsistencies” and expected a better effort from them in Game 1.

He pointed out how after beginning the game with a resounding 12-0 run, the Celts “started walking the ball up” and lacked the defensive effort. Scalabrine credited the Green Machine for not “fouling” the Pacers repeatedly, and limiting them to just 10 free-throw attempts in the game.

He also highlighted that if the Pacers had not committed numerous late-game errors, they could have eked out the win,

“I think they really dodged a bullet in that game. If Indiana did some minor things, call time-out to advance the ball, defend the three, step to the ball when you try to catch the ball, Celtics would be down 0-1 right now.”

While relaying that he isn’t in “panic” mode regarding his former squad’s struggle, Scalabrine admitted that their inconsistencies are “strange”. As a team that finished with the best record in the 2023-24 regular season, he expected them to sort out their woes at this point. Apart from the former Celtics athlete, Stephen A. Smith was also perturbed by their offensive effort.

Stephen A. Smith blasted the Celts for offensive inconsistencies

Stephen A. Smith wasn’t pleased with the Celtics’ offense in Game 1 and termed it “awful”. On ‘First Take’, he stated that their former HC Ime Udoka would have developed better offensive schemes, as compared to their current HC Joe Mazulla. He expressed concerns over Celtics’ chances in the finals because of their “haphazard play”. 

While the Celts can escape with such mistakes against the Pacers, the ESPN analyst felt that well-rounded two-way squads like Timberwolves and Mavericks would punish them for their repeated blunders. He urged them to build a “model of consistency”.

“If you’re the Boston Celtics, you can’t afford to be a bit haphazard, there has to be a model of consistency and dependency to some degree that I don’t see,” Stephen A. Smith expressed.

While most teams will get lauded for stitching together a 133-point effort, the Celtics don’t have the same luxury. Since they have been to six Conference Finals in the last eight seasons, the expectations towards them are lofty.

Apart from that, the East has been a cakewalk for them, thus far, and many believe that the strong Western Conference postseason window would have rendered Finals candidates Timberwolves and Mavericks better equipped to win it all.