The Boston Celtics played some of their worst basketball in recent memory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night in a 150-117 blowout road loss to the Thunder, and they knew exactly why postgame. “We got our ass kicked. That’s what happened,” said Jaylen Brown via CLNS Media. “You come out, you take it for granted, that’s what happens.”
“We probably had it coming to us,” the Georgia native added. “We came out the last couple games, we pick and choose when we want to play … We weren’t connected, didn’t have each other’s back out there, no help side defense, we didn’t guard our yard. Those young boys over there came out and they made us look bad. They embarrassed us.”
A similar sentiment was shared by reserve guard Malcolm Brogdon, per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. On learning that OKC star Shai Gilgeous Alexander would miss the game, Brogdon said “We took a deep breath and relaxed.”
“Honestly, we should know better than to come out and not play with aggression, not play with energy and urgency,” suggested the former Virginia standout.
The Athletic’s Jay King heard much the same from interim head coach Joe Mazzulla. “Whether you win or lose, there’s a level of humility that you have to have in the NBA because those things happen,” he related.”And effort and getting outplayed is unacceptable.”
After that debacle, one would be hard-pressed to find a Boston fan who disagreed.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire