There were inevitably going to be some bumps in the road as the Celtics looked to reclaim their spot at the top of the basketball world.
They have hit one of those bumps.
With their 118-114 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on a not-so-Merry Christmas at TD Garden, the Celtics dropped consecutive games for the first time this season. Beyond that, they’ve fallen to 3-4 in their last seven, 1-4 in their previous five, and 1-3 in their last four.
Yet, even after a frustrating loss to a disappointing 76ers team that walked into the Garden with an 11-16 record, there was no sense of panic, worry, or even much frustration. Instead, it was more a sense of accountability, knowing they haven’t been at their best.
“There are things we’ve got to address. We’ve gotta be better. It’s still a long season. Nobody’s panicking,” Jayson Tatum said. “You just have to be able to navigate the emotional roller coaster of the NBA season. It feels a lot worse than it actually is. We’re not panicking or anything. We’ve just got to man up and look in the mirror and figure out some things that we’ve got to be better at. Everybody’s fully capable, and we’ve always done a really good job of responding, and I have no doubt that we will. So I’m not panicking. But we’ve got to be better, and we will.”
There’s no reason to panic. The Celtics are 22-8, and their numbers still align with last season’s NBA Finals team. It’s hard to imagine a seven-game stretch in December changing anyone’s view of this group.
More importantly, we’re well beyond overreactions to each loss with this team. They’ve proven what they can do and have done so consistently. But the regular season is about building habits, and during this skid, the Celtics have strayed from one of their core principles: staying focused for all 48 minutes and playing the right way on both ends until the final buzzer.
“Listen, we’re playing inconsistent basketball,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We’ve got to be better on both ends of the floor. Got to me more consistent on both ends of the floor.”
Mazzulla often talks about the connection between offense and defense, and lately, that connection has been missing. In Monday’s loss to Orlando, it was the offense that faltered. On Wednesday against the 76ers, it was the defense.
The Celtics went nearly 45 minutes without recording a steal. Outside of holding Philadelphia to just 16 points on 4-of-20 shooting (20%) in the third quarter, Boston’s defense was largely absent.
Philadelphia scored 30 or more points in three quarters, including two 36-point quarters in the second and fourth. They built a 15-point lead early in the fourth, fueled by a 21-6 run in the first five minutes. Philadelphia hit their first 10 shots of the period before Boston tightened up and held them to 3-of-9 shooting to close the quarter.
“We’ve got to do a better job of taking ownership of locking in on that side of the ball. I think we’ve let that slip a little bit these last few games, and that’s on all of us individually,” said Tatum. “It’s just as simple as we’ve got to be better. We’ve always hung our hat on being a really, really good defensive team that takes pride on that side of the ball. We’ve got to get back to that.”
Their biggest defensive lapse came with just over a minute left in the fourth when the 76ers had a side-out with 1.1 seconds left on the shot clock. Tyrese Maxey came off a screen uncontested and finished a layup despite fumbling the ball on the way up. That bucket pushed the lead to seven, effectively sealing the game for Philadelphia.
Fourth-quarter defense has been an issue for this team. Over their last seven games, they have posted a 124.1 defensive rating in the fourth quarter, good for 29th ahead of just the Portland Trail Blazers. On the season, 22nd with a 115.3 rating.
At times, we’ve seen what the Celtics are capable of on the defensive end, and that was no difference on Wednesday. They held Philadelphia to the aforementioned 16-point quarter and rallied back from two double-digit deficits. However, they couldn’t do it consistently.
“We have to really dive into our work a little more and understand that we can’t relax during periods of the game, no matter the circumstance,” said Al Horford. “We have to make sure that we’re a little better in that regard. With this group, I know that we’re capable of getting it together.”
Defense has always been the Celtics’ calling card. Cold shooting nights are inevitable, but they’ve typically been able to compensate with strong defense. They know the energy, effort, and focus have been lacking recently, particularly on that end. But this team understands the importance of staying true to its identity, and history shows they can be trusted to get back on track.
“We gotta take some ownership. We have to be better. We’ve gotta acknowledge the things that we’ve done not so great, and we gotta look in the mirror and man up,” said Tatum. “We fully believe in ourselves and the things that we can do when we are fully locked in. We’ve done it time and time again. We’ve just had some lapses lately, and we’ve just gotta get back on track. We’ve got to get back to ourselves, our identity. We haven’t shown it in the last few games or so. We’ve just got to lock back in.”
It’s been a disappointing stretch, but effort is one of the easiest fixes, especially for a team that prides itself on it. If anything, Wednesday’s loss might just be the wake-up call the Celtics needed—like last season’s home loss to the Lakers.
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