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Tim BontempsESPN
After the Boston Celtics suffered their worst loss of the season on Sunday afternoon – a 104-91 loss at the hands of the Washington Wizards, who entered Sunday with the worst record of the Eastern Conference – star Kemba Walker had a simple diagnosis for his team malaise.
“[We] I just need to play harder, “said Walker.” That’s it. We are not playing much. We are not playing as hard as we know we can.
“When you play hard, big things happen. And now, it just hasn’t been consistent, our game. So, like I said, let’s keep watching movies and learn from our mistakes and improve.”
The Celtics are now 13-13, the first time they have had 0.500 or worse at the end of the season in six years. The defeat was compounded by the fact that it came on the heels of a loss to the Detroit Pistons at home on Friday – which had been the worst team in the East before overtaking Washington by defeating the Celtics.
An optimist could try to minimize Friday’s result due to the fact that it is the second half of a consecutive streak against a rested opponent. There was no such excuse on Sunday, as the Wizards have improved to just 3-14 this season, when Russell Westbrook is in line-up to control the game, particularly in the second half.
While the Celtics were late at the junk hour to make the final score look respectable, the Wizards – who entered Sunday with the NBA’s 29th-placed defense – led by almost 20 points for most of the second half, while Boston beat one jumper after another.
Walker and Jaylen Brown each scored 25 points and hit 21 out of 39 on the field and 6 out of 12 in a 3-point streak, but their teammates were unable to buy a bucket. The rest of the Celtics were a pathetic 12-to-51 (23.6%) of the field on Sunday, including 3-to-23 in the 3-point range.
Boston had a nearly 21-minute break from the middle of the second quarter to the start of the fourth, which included 13 consecutive errors.
“It could be,” said Brown, when asked if this weekend could be considered rock bottom for the Celtics. “It depends on everyone’s mentality, how we get in every day and get ready to work.
“If you let it be a rock bottom mentality, then this is what it will be. [If] you come to play, then it will appear. And today we were not very good. “
Playing without Marcus Smart, who missed the past two weeks due to a calf strain, the Celtics’ lack of depth – especially on the wing – and the scoring punch were exposed.
Apart from debutant Payton Pritchard, who impressed and secured a guaranteed spot in coach Brad Stevens’ rotation, no one on the bench was able to score consistently. Veteran Jeff Teague, who was hired to support Walker, sucked, hitting a paltry 28.6% on 2-point kicks. He has been a healthy scratch in the last two games Walker has played.
Although Pritchard quickly won Stevens’ trust, Boston lottery winner Aaron Nesmith did not. He played on Sunday, finishing with five points and five rebounds in 29 minutes, but has been noticeably absent from the rotation this season, despite Boston having repeatedly few side players.
For that, Nesmith’s 29 minutes on Sunday represent 20% of his time on the court throughout the season.
After the game, Stevens pointed to the trash hour, when the Boston Bank end rushed to make the final score more respectable, as something to build on to move forward.
“There is a lot,” said Stevens, when asked what needs to be improved for the Celtics to play as they used to. “We just have to better control the things we can control, playing together correctly on both ends of the court.
“If our team can play more like this in the last five minutes, then we can be as good as we can be. If not, we will be average … We have to play well to win. It’s not like we’re going to roll the balls out and win the We have to play well, so when we don’t play well and don’t take care of the little things, we definitely don’t have a chance. “
After this weekend, the Celtics – who have now lost four of their last five and seven of the last ten – will aspire to return to the middle game, but things won’t get any easier with MVP contender Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets visiting Boston on Tuesday.
As Boston takes the next 48 hours to prepare for this game, Stevens – like Walker – said that playing hard will be a prerequisite for anyone looking to see the ground outside the team’s pillars.
“I think we have to look at everything,” said Stevens. “I know we talked a lot about lineups and consistency and who plays and who doesn’t, guys who really move the ball or guys who really run on the ends and really run hard probably have to be the priority, playing smart, for now , around our best players. And I think that’s where we have to go, because that is clearly a problem. “