CLEVELAND — After dropping their second straight overtime game to the Cavs on Monday night, the Celtics found themselves just as close to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference as they are to the top spot.
Boston has now lost three straight games overall and are 3-4 since the All-Star Break having played their worst stretch of basketball since December. The woes on both ends of the floor has raised alarms for Jaylen Brown who voiced his concerns after the team’s 118-114 loss to the Cavs.
“Super urgent,” Brown said of the team’s focus now. “Tonight was a night where we had an opportunity – or a lot of opportunities – to win a game. We’d go back home feeling a little bit better about ourselves the way we played blowing some huge leads. Tonight it was unfortunate that we didn’t come out with the win. Overtime, I put a lot of that on me, especially in overtime. I could have gotten some better shots for my teammates and I’ll look to see where I could have been better and put our team in a position to win. Now, as you had back home, it’s a perfect chance to respond. Portland, whether they’ve been playing well or not, you’ve gotta come out and be the harder playing team. That’s what it’s going to take. So I’ll be ready for Portland.”
Brown also highlighted what he felt were some bad habits he saw in himself and his teammates over the past few weeks as the team tries to integrate all its parts.
“We should be fighting to win,” Brown said. “That’s what it should be. In a rhythm or not in a rhythm, what matters is winning games. At this point of the season I think that we are fighting to get in our own rhythms a little bit too much. And that’s from the top to the bottom. Like, we should be fighting to win.
“We’ve had possessions that were pivotal and we haven’t executed. Rebounds, loose balls, turnovers, free throws. All of that stuff. Me included. As we move forward, if we want to do what we want to do, this is the time where you improve, this is the time where you respond. I look at it as the glass half full rather than half empty. It’s a part of the journey. You’ve just gotta respond.”
Brown nearly had a triple-double against the Cavs for a shorthanded Celtics squad, finishing with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in the defeat. However, he struggled mightily in crunch time with questionable shot selection as the Cavs rallied from down 11 with just under four minutes left to force overtime.
“You’ve gotta win games. Period,” Brown said. “I’ve gotta be better. Those spots in overtime … I got rushed for shots and I wish I could have it back, but overall we just have to have a fighter’s mentality. We’ve gotta play to win.”
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