As an NBA champion, Kendrick Perkins knows what it takes to finish games. After another dispiriting loss to a lousy team, it's safe to say the Celtics are failing in every aspect.
Perkins laid into the Celtics Wednesday on NBC Sports Boston, following their 117-110 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are now 10 games below .500 on the season. It was Boston's sixth loss to a team with a losing record.
Following a tough loss to the Jazz Tuesday, the Celtics came out sluggish against the Cavs, trailing by 17 points at halftime. Despite scoring 72 points in the second half, they were never able to close the gap.
"It almost feels like the Celtics have a sense of entitlement," Perkins said. "They're going to walk in the building and just show up and teams are going to lay down. No, teams are going to go at you now. You have two All-Stars."
Perkins, who was one of Kyrie Irving's leading critics in Boston, has raised doubts about Boston's makeup in the past. Last month, he questioned Kemba Walker's fit with the team, saying the team looks better without him on the floor.
That take hasn't exactly borne out, as Walker averaged 23.3 points per contest during the Celtics' four-game win streak prior to the All-Star Break. But it's been a different story since then: the C's have dropped three of four games since the All-Star festivities.
With Walker out of the lineup Wednesday, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown went a putrid 22-50 from the floor, an definite sign of trying to play hero ball. It was an uninspiring effort.
"When it matters the most, I'm not seeing them digging deep," Perkins said. "I'm not seeing them pump themselves up with passion — let's get a stop. Trading baskets when you're trying to win a game is just not going to cut it."
Back at 20-20, the Celtics are in apparent need of a shakeup, and with the trade deadline one week away, Danny Ainge could have opportunities to remake the roster. He told MassLive recently he's "not sure" the team's current group of players are a "perfect fit."
Ironically, Ainge's passivity is one of the possible reasons for the lethargic state of the Celtics. Despite making the Eastern Conference Finals in three of the last four seasons, Ainge hasn't traded away draft capital to bolster his team. Instead, he's added nine players on rookie deals.
And yet, Aaron Nesmith didn't even see the floor Wednesday.
It remains to be seen how many moves the Celtics could actually pull off at the deadline. But it increasingly looks like a shakeup is in order, either now or down the line. As Perkins says, the sense of entitlement needs to be shaken.
