The Celtics they are not playing their best basketball as it shows in real time. The reigning champions have reached a difficult stretch for the first time this season, losing four of their last six games. The last data point is a 123-114 loss to the Pacers Sunday in one of their worst defensive games of the year.
Derrick White acknowledged those struggles. No panic considering it’s still December and the C’s are not halfway through their season still at 23-9. But White made a good point: The regular season is about building habits, and those haven’t been up to their standards recently. It also put the Celtics’ recent issues into perspective after the game.
“This might be the toughest stretch I’ve been on since I’ve been here with the Celtics,” White told reporters. “So it’s just going to bring us closer. I just have to know that everybody has their best interest in mind and they’re just supporting each other. And so I think it’s going to bring us closer.”
Four losses in six games, in the grand scheme of an 82-game season, isn’t a massive red flag. Teams all over the league have these stretches, and much worse, all the time. So it’s more a reflection of how successful the Celtics have been since trading for White in February 2022.
Now, looking back, the C’s have had rough stretches similar to today’s, but not many. In December 2022, after starting the season 21-5, the C’s lost five of their next six games. They also lost four of six in March 2023. Regardless of specific results during the White era in Boston, there are no big losing streaks. This is a testament to the organization’s consistency over the years, leading to reaching the top of the mountain in 2024.
But all that is in the past: the Celtics are only concerned with how they solve their problems. The defense wasn’t good enough against the Pacers, allowing 66 points in the paint. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla often talks about the growing up process; his team hasn’t done a good job of stacking up those positives.
Fortunately, as the Celtics always say, there’s always another game to look forward to. The C’s host the struggling Raptors at 3pm on Tuesday for a chance at a proper game. Then January will be a tough month for the Celtics between travel and quality of opponents. The Celtics have earned the benefit of the doubt as the reigning champions, but that doesn’t change how they know they have some fixable issues going forward.
“We’re humbled because we’ve been through it,” Jayson Tatum said. “We went through moments and there are parts of the season where we took it for granted and I think we learned from it. But I think we’re at a point in the season where we’re not happy where we’re at and we all have to understand that we played a part in where we are now.”
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