The Celtics mustered just 15 points in the fourth quarter of their loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. Top scorer Jayson Tatum did not even attempt a field goal in the entire frame. That development was just one of several concerning signs that Boston was out of sync in their 110-97 defeat at Scotiabank Arena.
Tatum finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists over his 36 minutes but suffered through a poor shooting night (5-of-15 from the field) like much of his teammates. Boston shot just 39 percent as a team, opening the door for the Raptors to pull away in the second half in yet another uneven performance. With three double-digit losses in their last five games, Tatum did not mince words after the defeat.
“We’re going through some s*** right now,” Tatum told reporters in Toronto. “It’s tough. But we said it after the game: We’ve got to go through it together, as best as we can, stick together, trust in one another like we always have, and just show your true character.”
For the past month, a collection of the Celtics top shooters (Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday) are collectively shooting below 33 percent from 3-point range. The slump has clearly taken its toll on the team’s psyche with Joe Mazzulla pushing more 3-point attempts than ever this year with Boston outpacing the pack on that front.
Some tendencies have changed from those players amid their swoons. Brown has reduced his 3-point attempts (took just one on Wednesday night) but has started to force inefficient offense in other ways. White is pressing and played just 21 minutes Wednesday night as Payton Pritchard got a bigger share of his usual minutes load.
“All of us are wearing (misses) a little too much on our face,” Tatum said, “and we’ve got to get out of that.”
The challenge now for Boston amid their inconsistent is to find some cohesion again and improve their play.
“I think we just individually have to look at ourselves like where we can improve, what we need to do better, are we fit?” Kristaps Porzingis said. “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.”
The Celtics will look for a chance to bounce back on Friday night when they take on the Magic at TD Garden.
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