Celtics Lacked ‘Killer Instinct’ In Ugly Fourth-Quarter Collapse Vs. Bulls

The Celtics lacked a lot of things Monday night, but Ime Udoka doesn’t think a lack of effort contributed to their epic collapse.

Boston fell apart in the fourth quarter in its 128-114 loss to the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden. The defeat led to Marcus Smart rightfully calling out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown before the duo declined to speak to the media.

Things started to fall apart in the third quarter for the Celtics before collapsing in front of their home crowd. Udoka didn’t attribute the loss to effort, though.

“I don’t think it was an effort thing,” Udoka told reporters after the game, via MassLive. “I think it was a lack of killer instinct, kind of took our foot off the gas and thought the game was over.

“… It was a lapse of concentration and killer instinct for the most part,” he added. “A lesson learned that’s gonna hurt and should hurt, and we should be pissed off about it. We keep talking about this early in the season; going through things and we have to shore up some things and we need a lead.”

The two-win Celtics desperately need to get on track. It’s still early in the season, yes, but there is reason to panic given how, despite changes made in the offseason, it seems to be the same old Celtics.

Boston will be back in action Wednesday against the 2-6 Orlando Magic.