The Boston Celtics fell to their third straight loss on December 29 against the Los Angeles Clippers while displaying some of the worst shooting we’ve ever seen.
The Celtics went just 4-for-42 from deep and shot a total of 34.7% from the field. Jaylen Brown struggled with an increased role within the offense, while the supporting cast never found their shooting touch.
Now, the Celtics sit 10th in the Eastern Conference and are six games out of the fourth seed – where many of us projected the team to finish the season. Fans are frustrated, analysts perplexed, and the team is beginning to repeat the same “learn and improve” line after every game.
Something has to give. Either the team rediscovers its hunger and drive, or the front office has to shake things up with a trade. With just over a month left until the trade deadline, you can rest assured that Ime Udoka and his coaching staff will begin experimenting with their lineups and rotations as they bid to find a winning formula, or at least, that’s what they should be doing.
As always, we can rely on Celtics’ Twitter to give us an insight into how the fanbase feels while allowing us to look at the growing rift between fans who want to see a trade and others who are banking on health solving most of Boston’s issues.
Twitter Reacts to Celtics Loss
As the game wore on, more and more Twitter users took it upon themselves to share their frustrations online. The anger was primarily directed at the team’s inability to hit their shots, but the defense didn’t escape scathing reviews.
“3 losses in a row 8 losses in last 11 games I love being a Boston Celtics fan rn,” Twitter user CelticsGRD wrote following the game.
Celtics 4-42 on 3PT.
Made only TWO of THIRTY-THREE attempts over final 35 minutes.
82 points on 101 shots. Celtics keep inventing mind-boggling ways to lose games.
Make 2021 end.
“The Celtics need to bring back the headbands I think that would solve 80% of their problems,” @_Abbeyhb joked as she watched the Celtics throw up brick after brick.
8.9% (4-45) — Rockets in 2021 9.5% (4-42) — Celtics tonight
As you can see, some of the users took things personally and aren’t enjoying the experience of being a Celtics fan right now. Others took the comedic route, while some remained optimists despite such a poor showing.
The Morning After.
Emotions run high when you’re watching your team lose. Tweets are born out of frustration, or in some rare cases, joy. But the following morning, when everyone has had a chance to digest the game and rationally compartmentalize what they saw, you begin to see some interesting thoughts filter through the timeline.
And the Celtics are top-10 in generating open to wide-open threes.
As you would expect, the team’s poor shooting has been the primary topic of conversation to start the day, with numerous analysts trying to make sense of what went wrong for the Celtics against the Clippers.
3-point shots by defender distance:
0-2 feet (very tight): 0-1 2-4 feet (tight): 0-5 4-6 feet (open): 0-12 6+ feet (wide open): 4-24
But for every level head, you have others who are sick of the inconsistency, sick of the losing, and just want to see their team make some changes to try and regain momentum heading into the second half of the season.
“Ben Simmons for Jaylen Brown is starting to make more sense… they need a TRUE PG to run that team. Ben & Tatum would be so fun to watch. I like Jaylen Brown tho but I don’t think him and Tatum (together) can take the Celtics to the next level,” Twitter user @Alexnasser_Sosa wrote.
“The Celtics know they have to break up the Jays. Now they just have to figure out how to maximize the return for Jaylen,” @WallacesOwner wrote.
One thing is for sure, the Celtics face an uphill battle when they face the Phoenix Suns on December 31, and another loss will only add fuel to the fire of trade discussions. But for now, Twitter is slowly ticking along, occasionally calling for moves to be made, but like most of us, just trying to figure out why things are going so wrong.
Celtics Twitter Reacts to Latest Loss