It's been apparent all season the Celtics are completely lost. Now they're saying as much.
The C's sounded dejected Wednesday following their 113-108 loss to the Mavericks in front of a smattering of unhappy fans at the TD Garden. Once again, they fell behind early, trailing the Mavericks by 22 points before launching any sort of comeback. The Celtics outscored Dallas 63-49 in the second half, but it was too late.
The damage was done, much like last Wednesday against the Bucks, when they surrendered 70 points in the first half.
For years, the hallmark of Brad Stevens' teams was their ability to play for all 48 minutes, and the defensive tenacity they displayed at key moments. Now, this is a club that only shows up for half of the game.
Jaylen Brown, who was introduced to the Celtics during those lovable years and is now one of the team's leaders, sounds like a defeated man. "Celtics basketball is about scrapping, getting after guys defensively, one through five. We just haven't had that with the starting unit or off the bench," he told reporters, per the Globe. "I don't know what you guys want me to say, to be honest. Everything has a factor that's involved. I don't know what you guys want me to say."
Like most of the season, Jayson Tatum and Brown got their individual numbers Wednesday, as the two All-Stars combined for 49 points. But instead of leading a contender, they're just collecting stats on a below-average team.
There was one bonafide star at the Garden Wednesday, and it was Luka Doncic. The MVP candidate single-handedly embarrassed the Celtics in the second quarter.
While Doncic is a transcendent talent, he almost reached his season scoring average in the first half. That's just as much of a testament to lazy defense as his sweet stroke.
"We were playing the right way but when adversity hit, we nosedived," Stevens said.
Perhaps no players embodies Boston's downward shift more than Marcus Smart. He's morphed from a fiery defensive stalwart to late-game liability. He attempted more shots in the final 90 seconds of the Celtics' recent loss to Memphis than Brown did in the final five-and-a-half minutes.
That's the sign of a broken team. The Celtics fall behind early, and then rely on Smart to take big shots at the end of a failed comeback. The offense features little more than isolation; the defense lacks passion.
This is a lackluster bunch that seems heading for the play-in game, where the winners usually advance on persistence and guile.
I don't like their chances.
