Star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown weighed in on what went sideways in the Celtics’ Game 1 defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat in the first tilt of the 2023 East finals on Wednesday. Clashing with head coach Joe Mazzulla’s assessment that the team “did a great job” in the loss, the Georgia native was critical of his team’s effort.
“Miami outplayed us from the tip,” said Brown postgame of a contest that saw Boston’s defense come out flat in the game’s second half. “Especially in that third quarter. We lost the game in that third quarter but I don’t know — we’ve just got to keep playing this game.”
“I feel like they got it going (in the third quarter),” Brown continued. “We gave them some easy looks in transition, and physically, our intensity wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Have they still not learned their lesson, or is there something more here? And is head coach Joe Mazzulla being outcoached by Erik Spoelstra, or was this loss more on the players? https://t.co/M7MwJHQ3L5
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 18, 2023
“We were up 10 and I guess we were a little bit comfortable,” suggested the Cal alum. “We were up 10 to start … to finish being down 10 going into the fourth quarter. That just can’t happen.”
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