It takes a lot to make Brad Stevens angry, but the Boston Celtics somehow managed to do just that.
The Celtics were run out of the gym Tuesday night in a 24-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks on national television. The defeat came on the heels of a 10-point loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and was Boston’s third defeat in four contests.
Stevens usually is a mild-mannered guy, even in defeat, but after Tuesday’s loss, he didn’t hold back.
“We had this coming,” Stevens said in a postgame interview aired on CSN New England. “We haven’t played well in a few days now. Even when we beat Brooklyn at home — we had a good quarter, but we had this coming.”
Stevens didn’t stop there, peppering his speech with some caustic one-liners about the Celtics’ defense, which has given up an average of 117 points in the last three games.
“I think we’ve got to reconnect as a group,” he added. “I thought we did a lot of things on an island (Tuesday night), and Sunday, and most of Friday. We’ve got to be a team. That’s first and foremost. … It’s hard to pinpoint, but I know this: When your defense is a sieve, you’re not a team.
“… We’re not playing basketball as a team on either end of the floor. We’ve had good quarters that have masked our deficiencies, and we need to get back to being a team.
“The best way we will be able to recognize it is if we guard somebody once.”
Stevens’ sharp words clearly are a challenge for the 7-7 Celtics to get their collective act together, and they have the perfect opportunity to do so at TD Garden on Wednesday night against the winless Philadelphia 76ers.
Celtics-Hawks Wrap >>
Let’s hit a few other notes from Celtics-Hawks:
—Â Judging by the postgame reactions of several Celtics players, it appears they heard Stevens’ message loud and clear.
The group certainly is taking accountability with its words, but Stevens will need to see those words put into action going forward.
— R.J. Hunter is used to scoring points in Atlanta, and Tuesday night was no different.
Hunter, who played his college ball down the road at Georgia State, had his best game as a pro, going 5 for 6 from the field and 2 for 3 from 3-point range to tally 12 points in 21 minutes.
Unfortunately for Hunter, even the rookie’s promising night wasn’t enough to draw praise from a bitter Stevens.
“We had some good individual performances, but I’m a lot more concerned about the collective,” Stevens said.
— Stevens had plenty of reasons to be upset, and one of them was the lackluster play of his frontcourt.
Boston’s starting bigs, Jared Sullinger and Amir Johnson, got eaten alive by Paul Millsap and Al Horford, who combined for 36 points to Sullinger and Johnson’s 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks, who rank 29th in the NBA in rebounding, outscored the C’s 50-34 in the paint and out-rebounded Boston 43-33.
— On a lighter note: The Celtics’ first nationally televised game of the season gave C’s fans a glimpse of TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager and his trademark colorful wardrobe. Sager, who is back at work this season after a long battle with cancer, didn’t disappoint.
Here’s him interviewing Hawks legend Dikembe Mutombo, whose No. 55 jersey was retired at halftime.
Thumbnail photo via Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports Images
