After a loss to the Golden State Warriors, Celtics star Jaylen Brown thought Boston played a “little tense.”
It seems that trend has continued with Brown’s running mate in Jayson Tatum noticing the same thing after the Celtics lost their third straight game — and fifth in their last six contests — when they fell to the Indiana Pacers, 117-112, on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
“We just got to regroup. We got to learn how to win again,” said Tatum, who netted a game-high 41 points in the loss. “I think it’s not as simple as that, but we got to get back to having fun. I think we are playing a little timid, a little tight.”
Behind a juggernaut of an offense that was operating at a historic level, the Celtics rolled through their first 26 games by winning 21 of them.
But ever since a blowout road win over the Phoenix Suns, Boston has hit a skid with their shots not falling. It culminated with the Celtics trailing by an eye-popping 30 points in the first half to a .500 Pacers squad.
Tatum believes he and his teammates are putting too much pressure on themselves to play to perfection, which is impacting their ability to produce on the court.
“Basketball is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be loose. It’s supposed to be competitive. But I get a sense of everybody, we want to make every shot, myself included,” Tatum said. “Our body language when we miss shots and things like that. It’s contagious. And that’s just part of it. We’re not going to make every shot. We’re going to turn the ball over. It’s just all about how we respond.
“And as a group, we can’t let it snowball and that’s what happened (against the Pacers). It was a domino effect. I think just not playing so tight. Get back to just relax and take a deep breath and remember we’re playing basketball.”
The Celtics will have another chance to respond and get back on track when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
