Celtics try to put positive spin on fourth straight loss

It took roughly 60 games, but reality has slowly but surely hit the 2018-19 Boston Celtics as they dropped a season-high fourth straight game to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at the TD Garden. The truth? This team certainly isn’t as good as they think they are and won’t have a chance against most elite opponents unless they play with a committed defensive mindset.

That improved commitment was apparent in a 97-92 loss even if some of that added fire did not translate well on the offensive end as significant miscues (16 turnovers) and ill-advised shots (Marcus Smart's hero 3 with 50 seconds remaining was a new low) loomed large in a 97-92 defeat. On a night where this team was looking for anything to build on after two straight horrific performances in Chicago and Toronto, they got some positive vibes out of their defense.

Based on the offensive numbers, the Celtics really shouldn’t have been in this game in the first place. They shot just 5-of-28 from 3-point range, the second-worst shooting night from downtown on the season. Combine that ineptness with just 10 free-throw attempts and 16 turnovers and you have all the makings of a blowout loss on most nights.

The Celtics managed to stick around all night though, piecing together enough baskets here and there with plenty of stops to keep themselves competitive against the hottest team in the West (winners of five straight). While the rest of the NBA world sees another loss and may view this team as one that is falling apart down the stretch, the vibes postgame were surprisingly positive from the top on down.

“I actually just told the guys, like, you walk out of here a little bit more encouraged because the reason we lost, if anything, was we didn’t make shots and I think it was because we were pressing,” Brad Stevens said afterward. “Like, I think we were disappointed in ourselves and we looked like a team that really wanted tonight to go well. And it didn’t. And you’re going to have games like that and so, a lot more encouraged tonight than I was last night. Tonight, you know, to come back and guard this team on the second night of a back-to-back and hold them under 100 is – we give ourselves a chance to win. We just didn’t score enough.”

“I felt like our guys wanted to play the right way, make certain shots, do certain things,” Al Horford added. “I just appreciated the effort. Guys were playing hard and doing the right things. We just didn't make enough plays to win.”

The Celtics loss was still full of mistakes despite the improved effort, but a lot of them came with good intentions in mind. Too many extra passes resulted in numerous turnovers (16 on the night). A tight rotation (only eight guys played big minutes) fell flat from an offensive standpoint on the second night of a back-to-back. Stevens and this roster pushed the issue a bit too much in this one and that may have contributed to the defeat. However, it was evident this group was pulling together in the same direction again on one end of the floor and that’s a gear they have not shown enough in recent weeks.

“We wanted to win this one really bad and we’re pressing but that’s a good thing,” Smart added. “I’ll take that any day, us trying to make plays for each other and trying to come out with a win than not.”

The disturbing part of this reality is achieving expectations like ‘playing hard’ qualify as signs of progress for a team that has a goal set on reaching the NBA Finals 60 games into the regular season. After getting humbled in Toronto on Tuesday night, with Stevens accusing the group of taking constant shortcuts on the defensive end, an awareness may have started to set in on Wednesday night that this team isn’t going to have a chance unless they defend with effort. They relied on that on almost a nightly basis last year (13-14 when scoring under 100 points) and that type of grittiness has been absent for a few months now (0-7 when scoring under 100 points this year). This group relies a lot on their offensive firepower and they had nothing to turn to consistently when their scoring dried up this year. Starting on Wednesday night, they are trying to start building the right habits again to turn the ship around in time for the postseason.

“You forget, to win games, it's tough,” Horford said. “You have to do things the right way and be consistent. Tonight, I thought we played with much more purpose.”

"We know what we're capable of," Kyrie Irving added. "We know what we're capable of. When we don't play to that level, we know. We know the type of level we have to play at, and do it consistently."

As dreams of a top-three seed fade more with every loss, priorities are shifting more. There has been too much damage done in the standings to recover at this point, so the goal has to be on the season ahead.

“We want to make sure that we’re playing really good basketball,” Horford said. “There’s nothing if we’re playing like this and we end up third. I’d rather be playing really good basketball and, maybe not be in that position, but I just want to make sure that our group we’re playing the best way that we can play. And I feel like we found something with how hard we played on the defensive end.”

With this group’s lack of consistency all year long, there is no guarantee that the same defensive mindset will be present on the Garden Friday night. For one night, Stevens will probably sleep a little easier as he eagerly awaits the effort to translate into success.

"I think we’re desperate for a win and to feel good about ourselves," Stevens said. "I said you feel a lot better leaving tonight but it doesn’t feel much better because you didn’t win so I don’t -- I think we need to stay in the moment, stay in the day, and that time will come when that time comes and wherever we are, we’ll play."