The saying goes, “Give them an inch, they take a mile.” The Celtics are living that reality right now. Their 114-97 loss to the Sacramento Kings is the latest example.
They saw this coming back in June. Like any reigning champion, one of their toughest battles was always going to be against human nature. It’s a double-edged sword. On one side, they’re the hunted—every team brings its best to knock off the champs. On the other, the Celtics have been coasting. Their execution, focus, and effort have been inconsistent, which doesn’t bode well when every opponent is bringing their A-game night after night.
Give credit to the Kings. They’re 6-1 under Doug Christie, playing inspired basketball since Mike Brown’s in-season firing.
But to get outshot 102-84 (47-41 from three), outrebounded 56-43 (16-8 offensive), and lose the turnover battle (15-9) makes two things clear: one, the opponent is working hard to control the margins the Celtics built their success on a season ago. And two, the Celtics are letting teams hang around by allowing them to dominate those same margins.
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Yes, there are factors in play—key players have been in and out of the lineup, and they’re still trying to regain chemistry. Plus, their shotmaking has been poor. The Celtics shot just 34-of- 84 (40.5%) from the field and 11-of-41 (26.8%) from three on Friday night. It was the sixth time in their last 15 games they shot 30% or worse from three—and they’ve lost all six.
When the Celtics aren’t hitting their threes, their offense stalls, and, of course, missing shots puts pressure on their defense.
“If you are going to shoot 20% from three, you are going to have to do a bunch of other things really, really, really well,” Joe Mazzulla said. “It puts pressure on your defense throughout the game. We have to be better there.”
But this issue goes beyond just the loss to the Kings. After a 19-4 start, Boston has hit a delayed championship hangover. They’re 8-7 in their last 15 games, with five of those losses coming at home—surpassing their total home losses from all of last season (4).
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The chronic lapses in focus that haunted the Celtics for years, and seemed to vanish last season, have returned. The most glaring example came when a defensive breakdown left Malik Monk wide open for a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Though Monk missed, the rebound sailed over three Celtics and landed right in the hands of an unguarded Domantas Sabonis, who promptly buried the shot from deep. The make triggered an immediate timeout from a frustrated Joe Mazzulla as boos rained down from the disappointed crowd.
After the game, Mazzulla acknowledged the lack of effort.
“I don’t think it’s a long-term effort thing,” he said. “You hold a team like that to a 19-point quarter and a 23-point quarter, and you have two 21-point quarters; I think that just wears on you. Whether it’s shotmaking. Whether it’s execution. Whether it’s spacing. It takes a toll on you.”
This isn’t last year’s Celtics, and comparisons should stop there. That doesn’t mean they aren’t still a very good team. But this season, as expected, the focus, intensity, and effort just aren’t the same. Even so, they’re still on pace for 58 wins, have the third-best record in the league, and rank second in offense, seventh in defense, and third in net rating.
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“We’ve gotta continue to try and figure it out as a group,” Jaylen Brown said. “It’s part of the journey. It might not be as pretty as some would like, but I believe in this team, I believe in these guys, and I think we’ll be alright.”
But coming off a championship and fighting human nature doesn’t grant immunity. At some point in the near future, actions need to speak louder than words. The team must show that they’ve figured it out on the court. The regular season is about building habits—and suffice it to say, the habits we’ve seen over the past month won’t be enough to get them back to the NBA Finals.
“Some [careless] plays just happen. It’s not like we’re not trying. ” Kristaps Porzingis said. “We’re going to get past it. We’re going to be fine. We’ll figure it out. I’m telling you, I’m confident we’ll bounce back. We’re just not having the prettiest moment right now as a team. It’s completely normal. I don’t need to be negative. We’ll figure it out.”
We’ve seen flashes of it. This team is capable of reaching the dominant level they played at last season, but they’ll have to work for it. Inconsistency can’t become their identity.
