The Celtics came away with a bizarre sense of security following their frustrating 118-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks Saturday night. They were outscored 43-20 to end the game and looked fatigued after a win over Milwaukee on Friday.
They return home Monday for another critical game against the Charlotte Hornets, and regardless of what seed they earn in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics feel they are approaching playoff readiness. Coach Brad Stevens always tempers his emotions, but he appeared optimistic because of the quality of basketball he witnessed Saturday when Boston was playing well.
Yet the Celtics will need this week to tune up their defense, one that has allowed nearly 105 points per game in the 25 games since the All-Star Break. They have become susceptible to allowing high-scoring first periods, and down the stretch Saturday, they couldn’t get any defensive stops against Atlanta’s ball-moving offense.
They have two regular-season games and a series of practices to prepare for the playoffs, and to try to remedy a defense that has become more inconsistent as the season has progressed. There are stretches when they begin games lackadaisically, and then others — such as the first six minutes of the third quarter Saturday — that they lock down opponents and create turnovers.
“We’ve got to start the first quarter defending better than we have,’’ Stevens said. “We had our moments in the second half. We played pretty well [Saturday]. My biggest thing as we go to this [postseason] is that we have to cross every T and dot every I. We’ve seen a lot of scenarios this year. We’ve put ourselves in a position to play against a lot of different defenses, to have to defend a bunch of different ways, and I think we’ll be able to lean back on that next weekend when the playoffs start.’’
The question is how the Celtics will approach these next two games. The Hornets lost Sunday afternoon in Washington and are a full game back of the Celtics, with Boston owning the tiebreaker. The Celtics end the season with the Miami Heat, who beat Orlando on Sunday to tie the Celtics — though Boston owns that tiebreaker.
Shooting guard Avery Bradley admitted the team was tired after a third game in four nights, but Stevens may decide not to give any of his players a game off, considering home-court advantage in the playoffs is at stake.
It seems Boston’s mostly likely playoff opponent will be the Heat, and Stevens would much prefer Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden. Because the four teams competing for the third seed in the East — Hawks, Celtics, Heat, and Hornets — have been so closely competitive, none of that quartet will play a meaningless game over the next three days.
“We’re not scared of anybody,’’ Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas said. “No matter who we play.’’
It definitely appeared as if the Celtics were inspired after 48 minutes against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks have been a difficult matchup for the Celtics over the past couple of years, and the fact Boston trailed by just 2 points with less than five minutes left before tiring was a sense of encouragement.
The players aren’t short of confidence, but they realize the next week will be critical for shoring up weaknesses. The Celtics are just 15-10 in their past 25 games but are also nearing full health with the improvement of Jae Crowder. The key is to use these next two games — both against quality opponents — to approach their previous form.
The Celtics played their best game of the season — handing the Golden State Warriors their first home loss in 14 months — just 10 days ago. That high level is approachable, but there isn’t the luxury to rest or waste the opportunity to improve in the final two games.
Saturday’s game showed the Celtics still have many weaknesses. They have to find a dependable secondary scorer when Thomas gets stymied. They have to defend the 3-point line better — Paul Millsap was allowed to step into his long-range shots — and they have to value each possession. The Celtics have been guilty of hero ball over the past few weeks.
All of these things can be rectified, but it will require the same effort in the final two games as the first 80. There is no time to rest, not now.
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.
