Jan 24

POR101
ORL79
Final
TOR122
ATL119
Final
DAL121
OKC115
Final
MIA96
MIL125
Final
SAC123
DEN132
Final
CHI106
GSW131
Final
BOS96
LAL117
Final
WAS93
LAC110
Final

Jan 25

BOS31-14
DAL24-21
ABC @10:30 PM UTC
POR16-28
CHA11-29
FDCH @12:00 AM UTC
CLE36-7
PHI15-27
NBCSP @12:00 AM UTC
NOP12-32
MEM29-15
NBAt @1:00 AM UTC
IND24-20
SAS20-22
ESPN @5:00 PM UTC
DEN28-16
MIN23-21
ABC @8:00 PM UTC
MIA21-22
BKN14-31
SUN @11:00 PM UTC

Jan 26

NOP12-32
CHA11-29
FDCH @12:00 AM UTC
DET23-21
ORL23-23
FDFL @12:00 AM UTC
TOR12-32
ATL22-22
FDSE @12:30 AM UTC
HOU29-14
CLE36-7
SCHN @12:30 AM UTC
SAC23-21
NYK29-16
NBCSCA @12:30 AM UTC
PHI15-27
CHI19-26
NBCSP @1:00 AM UTC
UTA10-32
MEM29-15
KJZZ @1:00 AM UTC
LAL24-18
GSW22-22
ABC @1:30 AM UTC
WAS6-37
PHX22-21
KTVK @2:00 AM UTC
MIL25-17
LAC25-19
FDWI @3:30 AM UTC
OKC36-8
POR16-28
KUNP @11:00 PM UTC

Jan 28

HOU29-14
BOS31-14
NBCSB @12:30 AM UTC
LAL24-18
CHA11-29
FDCH @12:00 AM UTC
DET23-21
CLE36-7
NBAt @12:00 AM UTC
SAC23-21
BKN14-31
NBCSCA @12:30 AM UTC
NOP12-32
TOR12-32
GCSE @12:30 AM UTC
ORL23-23
MIA21-22
FDFL @12:30 AM UTC
MEM29-15
NYK29-16
FDSM @12:30 AM UTC
DEN28-16
CHI19-26
ALT @1:00 AM UTC
ATL22-22
MIN23-21
FDSN @1:00 AM UTC
WAS6-37
DAL24-21
MNMT @1:30 AM UTC
MIL25-17
UTA10-32
FDWI @2:00 AM UTC
LAC25-19
PHX22-21
NBAt @2:30 AM UTC

Why the Celtics aren't anywhere close to panic-mode following loss to Raptors

Share

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics will tell you, their loss to Toronto Saturday had more to do with their lack of effort than anything else. 

Because of that, they are nowhere close to panicking about the loss which snapped the team’s five-game winning streak. 

But judging by what the team emphasized in practice on Monday, it’s clear that the focus going forward has to be on figuring out ways to improve a defense that’s good, but clearly has levels of play it can reach and be even better. 

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said the focus on Monday was cleaning up a few things they weren’t as good at in recent games. 

“Specifically on the defensive end of the floor,” Stevens said. “We have to … make sure we tighten up who we need to be for the rest of the year.”

LIVE stream the Celtics all season and get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App.

And as you listen to Stevens discuss the team and what they need to do to be better, it’s clear that his level of concern, while existent, isn’t on the level where significant changes need to be made. 

Boston Celtics

Find the latest Boston Celtics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.

The Celtics insist all will be fine; should we believe them?

Scal, Eddie identify ‘bad habits' affecting Celtics amid rough patch

Adding another layer of difficulty has been an upcoming January schedule that’s extremely light on opportunities to practice and clean up a few things as was the case on Monday. 

“You can see slippage in a number of areas when you don’t get to hone in on things,” Stevens said.

Here are some other areas that the Celtics are working to improve upon, but are nowhere close to panicking about them right now. 

ON THE REBOUND

Of all the areas that the Celtics have had success this season, rebounding the ball has been among the biggest surprises. 

The Celtics are currently 11th in the NBA with a .503 rebounding percentage, fueled in part by strong rebounding numbers in December in which their defensive rating of .520 is fifth-best in the league.

Boston’s rebounding against Toronto on Saturday was one of their worst performances this season as the Raptors won the battle on the boards by a decisive 53-31 margin. 

Disappointing, for sure. 

But certainly not something one can anticipate will be part of a growing trend with this team as they head into what will be a grueling stretch of games in January. 

OFFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS

When you get as jacuzzi-hot as Jaylen Brown has been lately (good enough to earn Eastern Conference player of the week honors), you have to know teams will try and defend you somewhat differently sooner rather than later. 

Toronto made adjustments and Brown more times than not, didn’t.

The end result was Brown having a subpar game while the Raptors went on to victory. 

When Brown was looking to shoot, the Raptors did a much better job of closing out while under control. They also contested more of his shots and had help coming or at least tilting more times than not when he had the ball and wasn’t on the perimeter. 

Jayson Tatum has had quite a few big games lately and like Brown, he too saw Toronto defend him differently and in doing so, quite effectively. 

Tatum took just seven shots from the field, the first time this season he has taken less than 13 shots from the field. 

Certainly, Toronto’s defense deserves credit for a great game plan that they were able to execute and in doing so, minimize the impact Tatum is used to providing the Celtics this year. 

Both players spent a little more time than usual in film watching what worked, what didn’t work and what they can do going forward to eliminate or at least minimize games like the one each had against the Raptors. 

“This is definitely a game I will watch on film and learn from,” Brown said following the loss to Toronto. “On this level of intensity game, we have to be poised and make the right decisions and make the right plays. We are a young team and we will bounce back.”

MARCUS SMART’S RETURN

With Marcus Smart, the Celtics have had a top-five defense. In the eight games he missed, the defense slipped down to No. 10. The more comfortable he gets since returning to the lineup, the better this Celtics team will be at both ends of the floor. 

Smart gets a ton of praise for his defense, but he has been a solid offensive contributor this season as well. And part of that offense is fueled by creating turnovers or confusion with his defense which trickles down to the strong play of his teammates. 

Having him back, knowing he’ll gradually get back to doing Smart-like things at a higher rate than we saw against Toronto, is indeed an encouraging sign for Boston. 

Because if their defense is going to make strides in the coming days and weeks, the play of Smart will be a critical component of that surge. 

BENCH PLAY

The Celtics’ second unit has shown signs of being impactful even with players coming and going all the time. But on Saturday, they were as big a non-factor as we’ve seen them all season. 

They didn’t get much scoring other than Enes Kanter’s 11 points and six rebounds. 

If you take out Kanter’s 5-for-5 shooting night off the bench, the rest of Boston’s backups shot a combined 2-for-15 from the field.

Brad Stevens used all seven of his available players off the bench, with all but Marcus Smart (he was a break-even zero) finishing the game with a negative plus-minus tally. 

HELP FOR KEMBA

We have seen the Celtics win games convincingly and get little to no scoring pop from Kemba Walker. But if you reverse the tables on that, you will find that success is difficult to come by for Boston. 

Walker had it rolling against the Raptors, scoring 30 points on 11-for-23 shooting from the field. 

But Tatum struggled, and finished with 12 points. Jaylen Brown, who is listed as out (illness) for Tuesday’s game at Charlotte,  had a not-so-great game against the Raptors but still finished with 17 points. Gordon Hayward was also among those brickin’ up shots as he finished with 13 points while shooting just 3-for-13 from the field. 

If any one of those three had a game typical of how they played this season, chances are pretty good that the Celtics would have beaten Toronto or at least made it a far more competitive game. 

And that only adds to the team’s need to be concerned about their play lately, but panic mode?

Nope. 

Not even close to being that time for this team. 

Forsberg: Which Celtics most deserve All-Star nod?

Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Hornets, which tips off Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike and Scal have the call at 3 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.

Contact Us