The Boston Celtics Hit the Snooze Button. Again.

Jayson Tatum speaks softly, in a languid manner that registers as unplaceably familiar—like the muffled sound of a television news broadcast playing in the background of a mundane dream. It could be Game 4 of the NBA Finals, it could be a regular-season game in the doldrums of March. On Thursday night, after the Boston Celtics handed fans and detractors alike a 118-94 letdown in Game 2 of their second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tatum conjured déjà vu once more. “Nobody in [the locker room was] defeated or deflated,” Tatum responded.