After the Celtics blew an 18-point lead to the Hornets on Saturday night, Boston forward Jaylen Brown was asked how the team could break its nasty habit of getting too comfortable and falling apart late in games. Silence fell over the media scrum for what was only a few seconds but felt like an hour before Brown responded, "I don't really know how to answer that question."
Marcus Morris faced similar questions following the Celtics' 115-96 loss to the Spurs on Sunday, one that elicited boos from the TD Garden crowd. Much like Brown, he didn't have any great explanations to offer.
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"It's funny because everyone always asks me, 'What's wrong, man? Why is it not working?'" Morris told The Athletic's Jay King. "And you can't really put your finger on it. You just want it to be better, so you try to figure out the cause of it."
The puzzle pieces were never going to fit together perfectly in early December, but it's now late March, and the Celtics still haven't found a winning formula with the postseason on the horizon.
Boston is on its second four-game losing streak in the last two months, going 6-10 overall since the All-Star break. In that span, the Celtics have a minus-2.4 net rating, 21st in the NBA. They also own the worst fourth-quarter point differential in the league over their last four games, with the worst meltdown coming against the Hornets, who finished Saturday's game on a 30-5 run to capture a 124-117 victory.
Only piling onto the loss, Celtics star Kyrie Irving seemed to question the team's defensive strategy against Kemba Walker (36 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists), saying he "torches us every time we play him, so it's no surprise."
Kyrie Irving on guarding Kemba Walker: “We should have probably trapped him a little bit more like every other team does in the league, but we didn’t. He torches us every time we play him, so it’s no surprise.” pic.twitter.com/RJNG3LJNiw
— Jordan Greer (@jordangreer42) March 24, 2019
These latest comments came a little more than a week after Irving apologized for his behavior this season and two weeks after a cross-country flight supposedly brought the team together. So much for that.
This has been the cycle of the 2018-19 Celtics. There's a glimpse of what they could be given their depth and talent, then a confounding loss, an eyebrow-raising Irving quote and general frustration in the locker room. An impressive win or individual performance invites speculation about Boston turning a corner — no, really this time! — until it hops back into this loop that has yet to be broken.
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"How are we going to get to the point where you attack with appropriate mentality, you play the right way on offense regardless of the score?" Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after the loss in Charlotte. "And then on defense, you play with a presence and finish plays together. I don't want to take credit away from [the Hornets], but we needed to be better."
Here’s Brad Stevens when asked who he can trust in a playoff game after blowing an 18-point lead to the Hornets... pic.twitter.com/bM1YRaQpRj
— Jordan Greer (@jordangreer42) March 24, 2019
Except the Celtics have needed to be better for quite some time. They are two games back of the Pacers for the No. 4 seed in the East, a pivotal race for home-court advantage in the first round.
Boston should breeze past Indiana on paper, but the on-court product says something else entirely. The Pacers play hard, play tough, play together. They know their roles. The Celtics haven't consistently checked those boxes.
Sure, the Celtics play the Pacers twice before the end of the regular season, and their other six games come against East opponents down the standings (Cavs, Nets, Heat twice, Magic and Wizards). Maybe there is some secret switch they can find. It wouldn't be a huge surprise to see this group fighting for a spot in the NBA Finals at the end of the East bracket.
The Celtics don't deserve the benefit of the doubt, though. They haven't proven to be a perennial contender like the old LeBron James-led Heat or Cavs, and they haven't been nearly as dominant as this year's Bucks or Raptors.
In order for the Celtics to turn their massive potential into wins, they must jump off this destructive carousel. If they don't, the ride could end a lot earlier than expected.
