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After dominating the NBA during the early parts of the season, the Boston Celtics have come crashing down since returning from the All-Star break and have struggled to look like a championship-caliber team.
On Monday, March 13, the Celtics fell to defeat against a Houston Rockets team that had only won 15 games all season, marking a new low point for Joe Mazzulla’s roster. When speaking to the media following the game, Jaylen Brown discussed the Celtics’ lack of effort throughout their contest against Houston, noting how his team didn’t deserve to come away with the win.
“Taking care of the little things,” Brown said, “Execution. We lost tonight, not really on execution, but lack of effort, not doing our job, the hard stuff, the little stuff is what adds up. The offensive rebounds and loose balls, turnovers. We didn’t deserve to win today.”
For his part, Brown was the Celtics’ best player against the Rockets, ending the contest with 43 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block while shooting 64% from the field and 40% from three-point range.
Joe Mazzulla is ‘Concerned’
During his own post-game press conference, Joe Mazzulla spoke on the Celtics’ inability to win any of the hustle battles against Houston, sharing his concern with the current performance level of his team.
“Those are concerning, the margins,” Mazzulla said, “The free throws, the rebounding, the turnovers, the second chances. Regardless of who you play, that’s playoff basketball at its finest. The ability to win those situations. So, it’s concerning that we’re inconsistent in that, and we have to be committed to those, regardless. Regardless of who we’re playing, regardless of the situation, regardless of how many games are left, it doesn’t matter. You have to be committed to those.”
If Mazzulla’s team is going to rediscover its best form and return to the level we saw from them earlier this season, they will need to commit to grinding out wins and doing things that don’t show up in the box score – which is the style of play they used during their NBA Finals run last season under Ime Udoka.
Celtics Lose Key Coaching Piece
In what is another hammer blow to the Celtics, lead assistant head coach Damon Stoudamire will be leaving the team to take up a new role as the head coach of Georgia Tech University.
“ESPN reporting with @PeteThamel: Boston Celtics assistant Damon Stoudamire is finalizing a deal to become Georgia Tech’s head coach. Stoudamire has informed the Celtics that he’s accepting job and making the leap to the ACC,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
The Celtics will now be forced to operate with a short-handed coaching staff for the remainder of the season, including throughout the playoffs, before looking to rebuild during the off-season. For now, though, Boston will need to keep their focus on winning games, and that will start with a March 15 contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will provide a much sterner test than Houston, meaning the Celtics will need to bring their A-game if they stand a chance of coming away with a victory.
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