The first known usage of the magic number came during the pennant race between the Yankees and Red Sox during the 1947 season. The second-place team (in terms of total losses) must always be used as the barometer for the first-place team's magic number. If a new second-place team emerges, the magic number adjusts to that new second place team. The exact formula is: Games remaining +1 - (Losses by second place team - losses by first place team) Similarly, every time that team's closest competitor for the division (or Wild Card) loses, the magic number also decreases by one. Every time a team wins, its magic number decreases by one.
It becomes prominent every year in September as teams begin closing in on clinching.Ī team's magic number represents the combination of wins needed by that team and losses by its closest competitor to clinch a given goal. The Celtics paid the price of that during their late collapse.In baseball, the phrase "magic number" is used to determine how close a team is to making the playoffs or winning the division. And more often than not, that’s when the Celtics offense - so good when the ball is zipping around the perimeter - is at it’s worst. But there’s also been times where the mindset rears its ugly head. The Celtics have undoubtedly got away from those stretches of iso-ball that caused them to start the season so poorly. Our offense wasn’t as sharp as it needed to be, no doubt.”
They stepped up defensively when it counted. “We did get some good shots off, but we would like to get a little bit more downhill and get some things to the rim and kick out. “Offensively, stalled out a little bit,” Celtics head coach Ime Udoka said.
After that 3-ball from Smart, the hosts were outscored by 14 points in the final five minutes. Marcus Smart then hit a 3-pointer with 5:18 left to give Boston a 94-90 advantage. The Celtics built a five-point lead, 91-86, after Jaylen Brown went to the rim twice on a pair of hard-earned bucket. “Like Derrick said, we got ball-watching the guy with the ball instead of just moving like we’ve been doing,” Marcus Smart said. The Celtics recorded six assists on seven made buckets in the fourth, a respectable number for sure, but then got away from what helped build them the lead. I mean, that’s the difference in the game right there.”īoston assisted on six of its nine made baskets in the first quarter and 11 of its 18 makes in the first half. We just got to do a better job executing down the stretch. “Everybody just kind of standing around looking at whoever had the ball, no player movement, no ball movement. “I think we just kind of got a little stagnant,” Derrick White said after the game. Ultimately, the Celtics aided in their demise much like they had done when they were at their worst. Boston took eight shots in total during the stretch.
GIANTS MAGIC NUMBER TO WIN DIVISION SERIES
With the win, the Warriors turn it into a best-of-three series with two of the three games in Golden State.īoston’s ball movement came to a screeching halt as the group failed to pass, cut or get to the rim and instead settled for seven 3-pointers in the final five minutes. The Celtics got away from their brand of basketball during the closing minutes Friday night, and it cost Boston massively as the Golden State Warriors claimed a 107-97 victory in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Celtics At Their Worst During Fourth-Quarter Collapse In Crucial Game 4īOSTON - It was as if the Boston Celtics turned back the clocks at the most pivotal time.
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