The Celtics fell into the magic ball trap and suffered epic reversals. New York s two-star director made a shocking comeback 23 points

On May 8, the NBA playoffs were born the most dramatic series of the century. The defending champion Celtics experienced a nightmare moment at TD Garden Arena. After being reversed by 20 points in the first game, they were defeated by the Knicks 91-90 with a 23-point lead, becoming the first team in the league to be reversed by 20+ in two consecutive games in 77 years of history. Brunson won the winning throw 7.2 seconds before the final game, forcing the Celtics to the edge of the cliff 0-2.

Tactical Dilemma: Magic Ball Theory Backfires

Data Analysis Reveals the Amazing Truth: The Celtics made a total of 91 shots from outside the three-point line in two games (25.3%), but they continued to choose the outside end at critical moments. In the last 5 minutes of G2, the team's seven offensives ended with three-pointers, 5 of which were top-notch strong shots. This paranoid offensive choice forms a fatal paradox with the "space basketball" system created by Stevens - when three-pointers are missing on time, the team lacks effective alternatives.

What is more interesting is the failure of lineup adjustment: Although Horford's starting lineup brings defensive hardness (suppresses the opponent's basket shooting percentage to 51.2%), it leads to space congestion. When Porzingis came on as a substitute, the Celtics' net win score dropped by 18.7 points per 100 rounds. The Knicks narrowed their defenses in a targeted manner, limiting the Celtics paint area score to a season-low 28 points.

Data abyss: Double Tanhua encountered a freezing moment

Tatum averaged 19 points per game, with a real shooting percentage of 48.1%. In the critical period, 0 of 7 shots was

Brown G2 made 4 mistakes in the final quarter, tying the individual playoff record in single-quarter turnovers in the playoffs

Double Tanhua picked and roll cooperation success rate was only 33%, down 27 percentage points from the regular season

Celtics' offensive efficiency was 79.3 at critical moments, and 16 playoff teams in the league are at the bottom of

Knicks' defensive strategy is a textbook: Hart suppressed his shooting percentage to 31.4% when defending Tatum, and Anunobi replaced Brown to score only 0.78 points per single. The "1-2-2 Joint Defense" system launched by Thibodeau successfully cut off the internal and external connections of the Celtics.

Life and Death Moment: The ghost of Madison Square reappears

The final 3 minutes and 42 of the game was staged in Hollywood script:

Brunson breaks through 2+1 and ignites the counterattack flame (83-90)

Divinchenzo died and causes Brown to violate 8 seconds

Harten key frontcourt rebound assists Hart's bottom corner three-pointer (88-90)

Brunson's signature shot overtakes (91-90)

Tatum's final kill was blocked, and the timer showed controversial 0.3 seconds

This scene is very similar to the Ewing final in the 1994 Eastern Conference semi-finals. The ghost of Madison Square Garden seems to have traveled through time and landed in North Shore Garden. The Knicks became the first team to complete 20+ reversals in two consecutive games in the past 25 years. After G1's 38 points, Brunson scored another 34 points and 9 assists in this game, scoring 15 points in the last quarter to create a legend.

Historical pressure: The Celtics fell into the 1981 curse

The probability of final promotion was 6.7%

The Celtics' history 0-2, the start of the series, 14 consecutive losses

The defending champion was discontinued in the second round the following year, as high as 89%

Mazula faced elimination in his coaching career, and what was more fatal is the collapse of the psychological level: the team's locker room was exposed to tactical differences, and Tatum said bluntly at the press conference "We need to re-examine the offensive choices ". Celebrity Pierce criticized on social media: "This is a shameful night for Celtic basketball! "

Future Outlook: Where is the way to break the deadlock?

Space reconstruction: Consider using Prichard to increase the threat of the outside line (41.2% of the regular season three-point shooting percentage)

Tactical iteration: Increase Brown's ball holding ratio (his face-frame singles scored 1.12 points per round)

Psychological intervention: Hire sports psychology experts to resolve the fear of key balls

Defense upgrade: Restart the unlimited defense system to deal with the Knicks pick-and-roll

Historical data shows that when the Tatum-Brown combination scored less than 40 points at the same time, the Celtics' winning rate was only 41.3%. With the series moving to Madison Square Garden, this legendary "Reed Return" is waiting to sound the final death knell for the defending champion.