Celtics in “toughest phase” since moving to Boston

Celtics

Derrick White sat at the rostrum with the hood of his black Celtics sweatshirt on his head.

He rubbed his brow when asked about Boston's lack of defensive intensity in Sunday night's 123-114 loss to Indiana. The loss capped a difficult December for the reigning NBA champions.

After winning 16 of their first 19 games, the Celtics began a relapse and finished the month 7-6. They have lost 4 of their last six games, three of them against teams ranked eighth or lower within the conference standings.

Boston allowed Tyrese Haliburton (31 points, 7 assists, 11-19 shooting) to pound the air and carve up its defense like a vacation ham. The Pacers, who trailed the Celtics by 37 points on Friday night, got a taste of revenge on the road back to the Midwest.

“I think this might be the toughest stretch I've ever experienced since I've been here with the Celtics. It will just bring us closer together,” White said. “You just have to know that everyone has their best interests at heart and supports each other. It will bring us closer to each other. There are ups and downs in every season, so it’s one of those lows and we have to figure it out together.”

The Celtics traded for White in February 2022. They lost five of six games in mid-December 2023, losing contests to Golden State, the Clippers, the Pacers and two to Orlando. They also lost 4 of 5 games in March.

But White's point remains to be clear. These phases don't occur often for the Celtics. They didn't see anything like this last yr and so they must work out methods to stop the downturn.

The competition will only get tougher next week. After a New Year's Eve clash with the struggling Raptors, the Celtics hit the road to face Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves. They then travel to Houston and Oklahoma City, each of that are currently ranked in the highest three within the West. The road trip ends with a contest against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

“I’m really excited,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of the upcoming stretch. “It will be fun. It’s going to be great.”

Defensive issues were on the forefront, particularly with point guards who’re adept at stepping into the lane.

Ja Morant lost 32 to the Celtics in a win earlier this month. Tyrese Maxey beat the Celtics on Christmas Day with 32 points and 12 assists on three turnovers. Haliburton was just the most recent guard the Celtics struggled to remain ahead of.

“We just have to pay attention to the trends, No. 1,” Mazzulla said. “And we need to know where we can help from No. 2 and force more kick-outs and more multiple efforts there. But it starts at the point of attack with our individual defense and then moves to our team defense off the ball where we can help.”

Play without Jrue holiday And Kristaps Porzingis actually didn't help, but that's no excuse considering how Boston handled Indiana within the previous game.

“I think communication,” Jaylen Brown said. “Tendencies are one thing, but it's a whole other thing when you're out there and they're coming at you at full speed, especially with a team like Indiana. I think we need to be more attentive and communicative to help each other. It seems like they got into a lot of trouble because we didn’t know where we could help.”

“They didn't shoot many threes, which means they shouldn't have gotten as many layups,” he added. “We could have protected the basket a little better, but we didn’t do that tonight. But I think we see it. We recognize where we can be better and build on that. There is a difficult phase ahead of us.”

Last week, Mazzulla said the Celtics were playing inconsistent basketball. The trend has continued, especially on defense.

“We just have to do a better job,” Mazzulla said. “We have to do a better job coaching defense, we have to do a better job in our individual defense, we have to do a better job in our team defense.”

White said he's not fearful about this Celtics group, which is only one game ahead of the third-place Knicks.

“Just trust the character in the locker room,” White said. “I know the type of people that are in this locker room and those are the people that I want to go to war with. I’m confident about that.”