Al Horford Criticizes Celtics After Second Straight Deflating Loss

It was a frustrating weekend for the Celtics, to say the least.

The rough patch started Friday night when Boston blew a 28-point lead against the superstar-less Brooklyn Nets and still managed to lose by double-digits at TD Garden. The Celtics had a good chance to bounce back Sunday night against a Knicks team playing without team leader Jalen Brunson, but Boston squandered another big lead (14 points) en route to a double-overtime loss in its own building.

Losing control of contests and not being able to put games away is concerning for a team with legitimate NBA Finals aspirations. The Celtics obviously are capable of putting games on ice, but at this juncture, Al Horford believes the necessary focus isn’t there.

“We’re not locking in as much as we need to,” Horford told reporters after Sunday’s loss, per MassLive. “This is the second time that we kind of have a lead, we feel good about it, a team makes a run and we just kind of let them back in the game. And throughout the season, you’re gonna have adversity. We’ve played pretty good basketball most of the year, and this is a time where you tighten up, you fix some of these things, some of these issues, or it goes the other way.”

Boston won’t have to deal with any wait to try to turn the page and get back in the win column. The reigning Eastern Conference champions will play the second leg of a back-to-back Monday night when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers.