The Celtics’ recent grind continued as they dropped a disappointing, listless loss to the Raptors on Wednesday in Toronto. The C’s found themselves down double-digits just minutes into the game, though they climbed out of that initial hole in the first quarter.
But the C’s never found a consistent rhythm through most of the game. By the time the fourth quarter swung around, the Raptors had more life and energy as they shut the door on the Celtics. Boston never mounted a true comeback effort down the stretch as shots and stops abandoned them Wednesday. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla broke down what his message was for the team postgame.
“Just stick together,” Mazzulla told reporters in Toronto. “We’re not playing our best basketball. You can’t always expect things to be easy. You can’t have an expectation that it’s always supposed to go your way because it’s not. We just have to find a way to enjoy the challenge. We just gotta do it together.”
The Celtics are still 28-12 on the season, the second-best record in the East. But they’re also 7-7 in the last 14 games as they’re not playing up to their standards as reigning champs. There are multiple reasons for that, whether it was a tough defensive night against Toronto or their 3-pointers abandoning them in multiple recent losses. Regardless, the product hasn’t been good enoguh.
It’s still January, so there’s no reason to press the panic button at this point. But it’s also evident the Celtics aren’t playing quality basketball. The month doesn’t get any easier as they have a tough stretch of games coming up with little rest, which includes a four-game road trip on the West coast.
So, the Celtics will look to regroup going forward. The starters struggled against the Raptors as their offense never got going for much of the night. The defense also allowed the Raptors to get out and run, which has been a strength for them this season. As they’ve talked about often through this rough stretch, they’ll just look to their next game coming up.
“We gotta play better with just more intensity, some more life,” Jayson Tatum said. “It’s not just one thing. We haven’t been shooting the ball well. That can be frustrating because everybody puts in a bunch of work on their craft. When things aren’t necessarily the way that you expect, it can be frustrating.”
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