The Celtics have struggled with consistency over the past month and that trend continued on Wednesday night in Toronto. Boston fell in ugly fashion to one of the worst teams in the NBA, with the with the Raptors handily defeating the Celtics 110-97 at Scotiabank Arena.
Boston was fully healthy and well rested with two days off since a win over the Pelicans on Sunday. Still, they collapsed in the second half, allowing the Raptors to shoot in the 73 percent in the third quarter and mustering just 15 points in the fourth quarter, opening the door for the hosts to pull away for the win.
After the loss, the Celtics are now 2-3 in their last five games with three double-digit losses in that stretch. Yet, Kristaps Porzingis had harsh words describing his team’s effort after falling to a 10-31 Raptors squad.
“I think we played with no spirit, with no personality,” Porzingis told reporters in Toronto. “It’s just a weak performance honestly, We just play with no personality right now.”
Porzingis was one of the few offensive bright spots in the loss for Boston, scoring 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Boston shot just 39.6 percent as a team though with All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combining for 26 points on 32 percent shooting.
Porzingis struggled to pinpoint the cause of the team’s recent decline (7-7 in last 14 games) but put it on the players to solve the consistency issue.
“I don’t know, honestly,” Porzingis said. “I think we just individually have to look at ourselves like where we can improve, what we need to do better, are we fit? Are we this? Are we feeling good? Are we locked in mentally and then try to fix some of the stuff that we have going on, but it’s not the end of the world like every team has ups and downs. Just that it feels like s*** right now and we played some bad basketball.”
Given the team’s success and chemistry last season, Porzingis admitted he was a bit surprised that Boston is facing a rut like this.
“We just, we’re just going up and down,” Porzingis explained. “It’s weird to say like we, we have like high character people here but it’s just things are not going our way. We’re a step slow here, there, this, just no spirit, no personality.”
The seven-footer remained confident Boston will be able to turn things around but the road to do so will be challenging for the defending champions. Boston begins a five games in seven nights stretch on Friday in Boston against the Magic and will begin a west coast trip on Monday in Golden State. The Celtics next seven opponents are likely playoff teams which will put Boston’s recent drop-off in focus. Porzingis isn’t panicking but knows the team can expect to turn things around when the playoffs around.
“Nobody’s like pointing fingers and stuff, but we know we’ll get past this,” Porzingis said. “I know it, we know it, but we have to start, we have to start playing better and we just can’t keep cruising and expect just turn it up towards the end, so it’s in our hands.”
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.