It was pretty clear early on during the Boston Celtics’ ugly 130-111 loss to the Wizards on Tuesday night that the team’s effort was not up to par.
Washington was playing without three of its usual starters but still managed to feast against a full-strength Boston defense that was a step slow all night in defending the paint or posing some resistance. Despite being a critical game in the team’s quest for the No. 1 seed in the East, the Celtics weren’t playing with any sort of urgency, and they let an ugly shooting night (11 of 44) impact their effort.
“It was just one of those nights,” Coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Washington. “Very rarely has that happened to our team, so just one of those off nights.”
“We just throw it away and get ready for the next one,” Jaylen Brown added.
Ultimately, Mazzulla did recognize and address the lack of urgency within Boston’s rotation as they failed to trim Washington’s lead below 18 points for the majority of the second half while the undermanned hosts piled up easy points all night (66 percent from 2-point range).
With nine minutes left, Mazzulla pulled the plug on his usual rotation and went with the deep reserves in search of a spark. For a rookie coach who leans on his core players more than perhaps any coach in the league during good times and bad, it was a surprising but welcome move.
“You have to be honest with yourself, we weren’t playing well,” Jayson Tatum told reporters in Washington. “It was one of those nights, you have to take it on the chin.”
Boston’s bench managed to make things a little bit interesting almost immediately by cutting a 20-point deficit down to 12 with a few minutes remaining on the clock. Ultimately, the run was far too little too late as the Wizards fought back and ran away with a 20-point win.
While games like this will happen over the course of 82 regular-season contests, the lack of energy was apparent from the start street on Tuesday night and it was almost universal across Boston’s rotation. Mazzulla was wise to get his starters some rest late in a game they certainly weren’t going to win but he would have been well served to try to shake things up far earlier in Tuesday’s contest.
“We’ve been playing good ball the last couple weeks,” Brown said. “Tonight, we just throw it away, get ready for the next one. It was a weird game. Traffic kind of messed everything up, threw everybody off. No excuse. We gotta be better, starting with me. We’ve been playing good basketball, just get back to it.”
PREGAME ISSUES: There were also seemingly some pregame issues getting to the stadium, which Jaylen Brown revealed after the game.
“We’ve been playing good ball the last couple weeks,” Brown said, via CLNS Media.
“Tonight, we just throw it away, get ready for the next one. It was a weird game. Traffic kind of messed everything up, threw everybody off. No excuse. We gotta be better, starting with me. We’ve been playing good basketball, just get back to it.”
Brown said “it wasn’t a normal night” before adding “it is what it is.” Of course, any traffic issues could disrupt a player’s pregame routine and warm-up. But as Brown noted, that’s not an excuse for some of the poor play the Celtics showed Tuesday.
Regardless of any logistical issues before the game, the Celtics will look to bounce back when they take on the Bucks on Thursday. It’s a chance to make a statement right before the playoffs against a foe they could meet in the East finals.
“I’m not one to make no excuses,” Brown said. “Tonight wasn’t a good night. Tonight wasn’t my best night. And we gotta hold ourselves accountable: I gotta be better.”
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