Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is known for being as mild-mannered as they come.
Stevens, though, couldn't help but express what seemed to be a combination of frustration and passion after the Celtics lost to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at TD Garden. The defeat, 107-96, knocked Boston below .500 again, as they were prior to a four-game win streak right before the NBA All-Star break.
And while Stevens noted the two major factors in the loss were Sacramento's shot-making ability down the stretch, as well as Boston's overall "inability to finish," his comments depicted there is a lot more to it than that.
"I think we need to be more engaged in each other," Stevens told reporters Friday. "I think teams are fragile things, and guys are trying, and they're all really good guys trying, but sometimes even when you're giving good effort or you have a group of possessions that go pretty well, five guys engaged does a lot. And we just haven't had that recently. And that's, that's concerning.
"We have to play as a team. We have to be able to move past a mistake or a missed shot or a missed opportunity or them banking a shot in from (3-point range), and move on. And show a great mindset -- show a little resolve. And put that together throughout the game. We have not done that. That is clear. And our challenge moving forward is the only way that happens is if you do it as a team. So, you got to get engaged in each other. And you need to fight through these tough times. And if you're not going to do that then there's going to be a lot more tough times."
Stevens was then asked if he'd consider shaking things up whether it be the starting lineup, etc. to try and give the C's a fresh look.
"Well, even looking at tonight you could have said it was shaking things up because we haven't played that starting five together in a month and a half. ... My biggest thing is this: We have a certain ceiling to us if we're not completely engaged in each other. We got to play well to win. And if we're not playing well, it's not going to end well.
"... You have to be so engaged to win an NBA game that when you're not, you don't. And so we’re not. That's what we have to fix. The changes, or the lineup changes, or starting lineup, it's got to be 17 guys dying to play well together and I think the fun follows that, right? You share it. You dive on the floor, you rebound, you're tough every single play. When something doesn't go your way, you tip the cap to the guy …. And move on. We need more of that. Bottom line. And, you know what, it's fair to say that's on me. And it's fair to say that's something that I need to make sure that we have. And I'm going to do my best whether it's finding different groups or whether it's getting the most out of the group that has the highest potential then that's what we're going to do."
Here are some other notes from Celtics-Kings:
-- Jaylen Brown pointed to Boston's energy being a key problem during their struggles.
It certainly was that way in the first half Friday as the Kings took as large as a 15-point lead eight minutes into the second quarter before a 10-point halftime advantage.
"Yeah, I mean, I think it's clear as day. And as a collective everybody is equally responsible. Like our energy has been flat. You can see it from the TV screen, from the stands. We haven't come out with that pop that we used to where we've been agresseive and attacked teams like we have in the past. And it's tough. But, yeah."
-- Sacramento was able to pull the game out with a closing stretch late in the fourth quarter. The Kings outscored Boston 17-5 to finish the game.
That's been an issue of late, as well.
"When adversity hits, when you get put in situations where you're uncomfortable in life or on the basketball court, that's the time you show what you're made of. And as a group, in the fourth quarter, we've fallen a part a lot of times," Brown said. "A lot of games that we were in or games we could have won we didn't for whatever reason mentally, physically or however you want to draw it up. Fourth quarter is supposed to be winning time and it's been the time we haven't been absolutely together."
-- The Celtics will look to turn it around, or at least get back to .500, when they host the Orlando Magic at TD Garden on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
