The Celtics have already encountered their share of speed bumps this early in the season – and the rest of the league is taking note. Boston has already stumbled to a 2-5 start with numerous problems in its mounting losses.
Slow start spotlighted Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics’ two All-Stars who struggled early in the season. The counting stats look good, but Tatum has struggled to be efficient while Brown has had consistency issues due to COVID-19.
Retired NBA insider and Hall of Famer Jackie MacMullan said Boston’s star duo has been a huge talking point in league circles so far. MacMullan has joined NBC Sports Boston to share his thoughts on Tatum, Brown, the Celtics and Recent comments from Marcus Smart.
“The NBA is one of the greatest gossip leagues of all time,” MacMullan said. “GMs, agents, everyone, writers, we all like to chat. That’s what everyone’s talking about right now: Can these two guys play together?
“I think there is still time; they are both very young. It has to happen soon, but I think there is still room for them to improve each other. If they really focused on that, I think they would solve a lot of these problems.
It’s not just the Celtics’ struggles that are broadcast to the rest of the country. Tatum and Brown were thrust more into the spotlight after Smart’s comments following Monday’s collapse against the Bulls. Among Smart’s remarks were that he wanted the ball more and that Tatum and Brown didn’t pass the ball enough.
Boston President Brad Stevens said Tuesday he saw Tatum and Smart have breakfast together and look to iron out kinks after slow start. Stevens added that he thinks the 2-5 record has been somewhat misleading as the Celtics seek to figure out what went wrong.
MacMullan said Smart’s comments don’t bother her, especially because he supports her talk on the defensive end of the field. MacMullan said she had one problem following Monday’s post-match loss: “It bothers me that these two stars aren’t coming to meet the media after the match.” Tatum was not scheduled to speak with the media while Brown did, although he was ultimately not made available by the Celtics.
“That’s kind of how Marcus works,” MacMullan said of the comments. “I don’t blame him to some extent because I never worry about Marcus Smart’s defensive effort. Fighting through screens, never taking the easy route. … I think there’s some truth to what Marcus Smart is saying and it doesn’t bother me.
While all eyes are on the Celtics’ offense — especially after Smart’s passing comment — MacMullan said she’s more worried about the Celtics’ defensive effort. Boston has the personnel that should play better on that side of the floor, but the actual execution has been a leaky commodity.
The Celtics’ porous defense ranks tied for 25th in defensive rating and 30th in scoring defense by a significant margin. Even though Boston has players like Smart, Al Horford, Brown and others, the effort just hasn’t been there every night, MacMullan said.
“Everyone is focused on the offense; I understand that,” MacMullan said. “If I were Ime Udoka and Brad Stevens, I would be a lot more worried about the defensive side of the ball. I really would. I think that’s where they lose these games. I think that’s where they lost the game (Monday) night. They weren’t tough enough. They weren’t physical enough. They were not locked up enough.
