What to think after last night's self-destruction in game 5

Deep breaths everyone. After that brutal collapse in the 4th quarter last night, I had to give myself a night off to ensure that I didn't say anything ridiculous after that game. Was it a catastrophic collapse? Yes. Can they recover from it? Also yes. Here are some of my main takeaways. What Went Wrong
After taking a 109-96 lead with 6:10 remaining, Boston was outscored 23-8 to close the game. How do you dominate a game and then just take your foot completely off the gas? The Celtics just coasted the final 6 minutes. After they built a 13-point lead, they stopped defending and started settling for jumpers. When you pair that with costly turnovers and mental mistakes, that's how you blow a huge lead.

I've got to say something about Jayson Tatum as well. I love JT and believe that he's a top 5 player in the league, but last night was inexcusable. Atlanta couldn't stop him when he drove it to the basket, yet he continued chucking threes on a night where his deep ball wasn't working. I have no doubt that he will bounce back in game 6, but he can't continue to have these lapses in games down the line.
Reasons to not Panic
As ugly as last night was, we're still the far better team. The Hawks didn't make any crazy adjustments in the last 6 minutes that the Celtics couldn't handle, Boston just imploded. If the guys play up to their potential and stop screwing around when getting a lead, there's no reason why this series should come down to a game 7. 

The Celtics need to step on the Hawks throat when gaining a lead and push it to 20 or 30. There is no reason to get up double-digits and then start to coast. Quit screwing around with these guys and finish it in front of their fans, you don't want your season to come down to one game.
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Celtics diehard who enjoys basketball, golf, and hanging out with my family