Effort Issues? Brad Stevens sounds the alarm with pointed comments after loss to Jazz

Brad Stevens was searching on Friday night, to the point where he was playing a five-guard lineup in the fourth quarter. He found himself with an offense that couldn’t score in the second quarter (18 straight misses at one point) and that was followed up with a defensive performance that was almost as troubling over the final two quarters. The hosts surrendered 61 second half points in the 107-95 defeat to the Jazz, showing off an inability to string together the necessary stops to get back in the game against a Utah team that had two road wins all year.

It was one bad night in a Celtics season that hasn’t had many of them through 31 games. However, comments from the head coach after this one were a bit more pointed than any other defeat this year.

“They played great and they deserved to win,” Stevens said. “They were clearly better coached, all that stuff. So, I'm concerned about our lack of intensity when things didn't go our way. Our lack of fight -- I thought it didn't match theirs."

The Celtics have dropped three of five overall, including two contests in blowout fashion over the past week alone. The lack-of-fight talk from Stevens wasn’t a misstep. He planted a seed and harped on it through the press conference.

"Bottom line is you have to be locked in. You have to play well,” he said. “You have to do what you do best, and we have a lot of guys that really didn't play well. We got outcoached, we got outplayed. And we haven't been in that situation very often as far as, like, from an effort standpoint. But I think twice this week we have, so that's concerning."

Even though the Celtics are still the best team in the East, there have been some trouble signs with their play over the last 10 games. While the offense has perked up, the defense has regressed considerably over that span. The Celtics have allowed 108 points per 100 possessions in that stretch, which is the eighth worst mark in the NBA.

The biggest issues on that end? An inability to force turnovers (26th in league) and rebound the ball (28th in league) over those 10 games which has helped opponents both maximize possessions and create extra ones for themselves. Despite losing Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors on the glass, the Jazz had 55-31 edge on the glass Friday night.

Stevens’ concerns didn’t fall on deaf ears in the locker room after the game.

“I mean, any observation that coach sees is pretty much going on out there,” Kyrie Irving said. “He’s as truthful as it comes. What he sees out there is probably what’s going on. That right there is something we can control, in terms of our attitude and effort. Obviously, that’s a call-out for us. It’s our job to respond. We got another chance to do it in less than 24 hours, so just gotta get to it.''

Irving knows the team is shorthanded and in the midst of their busiest stretch of the year (five games in seven nights) but he declined to use that as an excuse.

“It’s the league,'' he said. ''It’s part of the league, man. We signed up for it when we were kids and worked our tails off to get here. There’s no time for kind of the pity party or to kind of say we’re tired. It’s all part of the game. And you’ve got to figure out a way.”

The challenge now for Stevens and this group is the fact he doesn’t really have any time to regroup with this core. Marcus Morris isn’t coming back for a few more games and the Celtics will be playing at least every other day through December 28th. That means no real time for rest or practice before the schedule finally calms down in a couple weeks.

Outside of opening night, the Celtics haven’t faced much adversity in the win-loss column all year long. Some regression was expected with this group, but it’s the lack of fight that’s the concerning issue here for Stevens. He doesn’t want his teams losing games on effort and he’s making sure they know that as the gauntlet continues.

“It’s just you see it as a test,” Irving explained. “That’s all it is. Unwavering belief is what I’m always, always aware of. So as long as I can echo that to our teammates and our coaching staff echoes it to us then we’ll be fine. It’s all part of growing as a team, as a new developing team. The way we started and what we’re going through now, There’s going to be times like this. And this is nothing yet. I guarantee it. It’s nothing yet. But what we’re facing is just we’ve probably hit a little fatigue, we’ve probably hit a patch where we need to kind of all collectively and individually just kind of slow down for a quick second, gather ourselves and move forward.”

With potential trouble on the horizon with the schedule, it feels like Stevens tried to make a preemptive strike with his comments tonight. He'll find out quickly if they served their purpose on Saturday night in Memphis.