BOSTON — The case for the Celtics coming into this season, even missing their best player, was that they needed to play hard every single night. The margin of error is clearly slimmer compared to past years when Boston featured a loaded roster.
But as the Celtics lost 113-105 to the Nets on Friday, it was one of their most disappointing showings of the season. It was also clear they didn’t play hard enough. So, Jaylen Brown called out the C’s after the loss, adding they lacked energy in a lifeless performance.
“Come ready to play or don’t play at all,” Brown said. “That’s my whole thing: We’ve gotta come ready to play. We just went through the motions today like — I don’t understand it.”
Brown had a fine individual outing, scoring 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting. But foul trouble forced him to the bench midway through the third quarter. The Celtics even challenged the offensive foul call, but Brown’s fifth personal foul was upheld after review. He was forced to retreat to the Celtics bench until midway through the fourth quarter. That’s when the Nets also went on a 19-4 run to blow the game open.
The Nets played harder and better than the Celtics for long stretches. They went up by 18 points in the third quarter as the TD Garden crowd mumbled and groaned. While the Celtics got it all the way down to two points midway through the fourth quarter, they ran out of gas as they failed to complete the comeback. Credit the Nets, sure, but the C’s also just weren’t good enough.
“At the end of the day, we all got a job to do,” Brown said. “We’re all getting paid to do what we love to do. Come ready to play basketball or you’re doing a disservice. So everybody got to come here and be ready to do their job and have great energy, enthusiasm and want to win. That’s what it’s about at the end of day: Celtic basketball. So we’ll look at it tomorrow.”
The Celtics will look to bounce back, and it’s a long season. Even in the past two years, when the C’s were in title contention, they had disappointing losses like Friday. But the Celtics don’t have the luxury to stack nights like Friday, where the effort and want to win weren’t there consistently.
Plus, the Celtics have a daunting schedule coming up. They face the Magic, Pistons, Timberwolves, Cavaliers and Knicks over their next five games. Those are all playoff contenders and will certainly circle the Celtics game on the schedule.
“Every game is a test, so I just take it one game at a time,” Brown said. “The schedule is the schedule and we just have to keep going. I’m focusing on how can I better prepare myself and how can I make my teammates better but we’ve gotta have some enthusiasm for the game. At the end of the day you’ve gotta play basketball.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.