Photo by Vaughn Ridley/NBAE via Getty Images After the Celtics’ 110-97 loss in Toronto, Kristaps Porzingis took questions in a black Celtics cut-off hoodie. He looked like the Grim Reaper at a basketball funeral. It dropped Boston to 7-7 in the last fourteen games that have included a crushing blow from the 76ers on Christmas Day, a strong showing out on the road against some of the Western Conference’s best, and now disappointing losses to the 20-20 Sacramento Kings and 10-31 Raptors. “We played with no spirit, with no personality. It’s just a weak performance from us honestly. We just playe ..read more

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/NBAE via Getty Images The Boston offense looked aloof in Toronto on Wednesday night Returning to Eastern Conference play after going 4-2 across a tough stretch of Western Conference matchups, the Boston Celtics found tougher sledding than they might have expected on Wednesday evening against the Toronto Raptors. The Celtics struggled out of the gate and found themselves a step behind the Raptors all night, and ultimately lost 110-97, snapping a 10-game winning streak against Toronto. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown struggled to find their marks tonight. The star duo combin ..read more

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images Boston looks to make it 3-0 against the Raptors this season. The Boston Celtics take a quick trip across the US-Canada border to face off against the Toronto Raptors tonight. This will be Boston’s third time facing off against Toronto, winning the two prior matchups. The first matchup was back in November when the Celtics needed overtime and a Jayson Tatum game-winning three to come out on top 126-123 at TD Garden. More recently, Boston and Toronto squared off on New Year’s Eve with the Celtics again protecting home court with a 54-point thra ..read more

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post In Boston’s squeaker against the West’s worst Pelicans (8-32) on Sunday night, there was a bit of a rare hallmark in the win. No, it wasn’t Derrick White making a boneheaded mistake by generating a 5-second violation on a late inbound pass. For just the third time in nine games, the Celtics won a game after shooting under 30% from behind the arc. It’s happened a few times in notable losses. Boston made just 18-of-60 when Marcus Smart and the Memphis Grizzlies came to town. An abysmal 9-of-46 buried a strong effort in Oklahoma City. And most recently, 11 ..read more

Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images The Celtics’ starting lineup played only its ninth game together on Sunday, and as they hope for more time to gel, the first half showed nothing’s promised on the path to repeating. BOSTON — After a strong showing out west, the Celtics had a chance to get right at home. Two letdowns later, there might be more questions than answers for the defending champs. The Kings extended their lead in the fourth quarter of a blowout on Friday before the Pelicans’ squandered theirs when CJ McCollum narrowly missed a chance to win it at the buzzer. Jayson Tatum and the Celtics e ..read more

Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images With Porzingis back, it hasn’t been smooth sailing reintegrating the Boston big man—but the numbers show that better days are on the horizon. The Celtics aren’t playing great basketball. Coincidence or not, this stretch has coincided with the return and reintegration of Kristaps Porzingis. In 23 games without the big man, Boston has a record of 19-4—with him in the lineup, that falls to a much less flattering 9-7 record. This has put his value on trial, and opened the door to discussions about whether a move to the bench could be helpful for everyone ..read more

Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images Breaking down how Boston loses games, and whether they can do anything about it (or already have). Regular season losses don’t mean all that much, until you start getting a lot of them. Then it’s bad, but after a lot more, it starts to become good again. The NBA is strange. For the Cs’ purposes, though, losing is disappointing, but not all that relevant. Despite their current 7-6 slump, the Celtics should still cruise to mid-50s wins and a top-3 seed in the East. What is important about losing is learning from how it happened and adjusting accordingly, like w ..read more

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images The Celtics turned the game around with a dominant fourth quarter, relying on rim pressure and rebounding. Jaylen Brown’s playmaking and Tatum’s isolation skills were key, while Boston exploited Zion Williamson’s defensive weaknesses and neutralized the Pelicans’ shooting threats. #1 - Rim frequency Against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Boston Celtics had their highest volume of rim attempts of the season. With 37% on their attempts within 4 feet from the basket, the Celtics had more attempts in the paint (47) than from the three-point line (44). T ..read more

Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images Jayson Tatum’s 38 points lifted the Celtics to a 120-119 victory over the Pelicans. But, no one was overly celebratory about a near-loss to the Pelicans. BOSTON — The Celtics escaped with a 120-119 win over the Pelicans, and when the final buzzer sounded, there was a strong sense of relief in the building. A near-disastrous loss against one of the league’s lowest-ranked teams was avoided — but just barely. After a game marked by shooting struggles and costly errors, the Celtics finally led by 5 with 22 seconds to play. From that moment on, almost everything went wr ..read more

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images Jayson Tatum fueled the Celtics to victory with 38 points and 11 rebounds. The Boston Celtics hosted the 8-31 New Orleans Pelicans and Zion Williamson Sunday night. The final score at TD Garden was 120-119 as Boston overcame a slow start and a hot shooting New Orleans Pelicans team who kept it close all night long. Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston with 38 points and 11 rebounds. After a brutal home loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday, Boston started out the game ice cold, missing their first 7 shots of regulation before Kristaps Porzingis fin ..read more