The Boston Celtics got outplayed in the second half of their loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. Plain and simple.
And when it came time for them to dig deep and try to grind out a win, they simply couldn’t.
Jaylen Brown is rightfully furious as a result.
The Celtics got outscored 74-61 in the second half in their 122-108 loss to the top team in the NBA. They were in striking distance for stretches of the final 24 minutes, but never showed the resolve needed to inch towards a win.
“We (expletive) should take it personally. The fourth quarter was embarrassing,” Brown said after the game, via Forbes’ Chris Grenham. “That’s the time when we’re supposed to be our grittiest and it seems like we just fell apart. In a sense, that’s a lack of toughness and that’s a lack of leadership. A lot of that is on me. …
“As a leader of this team, I take responsibility for how we respond and how we come out in that fourth quarter. It just wasn’t there for us.”
For Boston, the good news is that type of mail-in generally is rare. The C’s have proven to be a good late-game team so far this season, and if there’s any team that would keep them from gutting out a victory, it’s the Jazz.
Still though, you can’t blame Brown for being miffed with himself and the team.
