BOSTON — Brad Stevens was very public in his criticism of the Boston Celtics after Tuesday night’s blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
But apparently the dialogue didn’t stop there.
The Celtics survived a pretty big scare Wednesday night, needing a furious late run at TD Garden to keep the Philadelphia 76ers winless. After the win, Boston’s head coach admitted his team played tight for most of the game and pointed to the team’s discussions over the past 24 hours as a possible reason.
“I think it’s probably a combination of things,” Stevens said. “Probably playing Philly, probably how we had some real conversations, and then not playing well for a couple of games now. We’ll see if we can play well off the last six minutes or not, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
According to Celtics forward Jared Sullinger, those “real conversations” Stevens had with the team were pretty straightforward.
“It was just him being honest in what he’s seen,” Sullinger said. “He addressed everybody and told them what he’s seen.”
What Stevens has seen hasn’t been pretty, as Boston lost two games by a combined 34 points entering Wednesday and trailed by as many as 11 to a Sixers team that owned a 25-game losing streak dating to last season.
The Celtics coach also apparently took a page out of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s notebook by telling his players to focus on their roles and their roles alone.
“Basically whatever your job is, do your job and do it at a high level,” point guard Isaiah Thomas said when asked about Stevens’ message. “He knows everybody wants to play. It’s a hard and tough decision for him. If you’re about this team, you’re just going to do whatever’s best for the team. That’s basically what he was talking about.”
Stevens’ motivational tactics seemed to finally take root in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics started playing team basketball during an 18-3 run that helped them escape with the win.
Thomas also noted his coach’s more relaxed demeanor at halftime Wednesday — when Boston trailed by seven — a noticeable change from Stevens’ angry temperament Tuesday night.
“He wasn’t really trippin’,” Thomas said.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
