Jayson Tatum says inconsistent Celtics need to ‘man up’

The Celtics let a division rival beat them on their dwelling ground in entrance of a nationwide TV viewers on Christmas Day.

It’s not just like the Sixers (11-17) have been dominant this season. They’ve regained a few of their swagger, profitable 4 of their final 5 behind the stellar play of Tyrese Maxey, who dropped 32 factors or extra in three of these contests.

There’s loads of basketball left, but when the season ended right now the Sixers wouldn’t even be within the Play-In Match. The trouble that the defending champs turned in on Christmas was unacceptable, with gamers saying as a lot in postgame press conferences.

“We’ve received to take some possession,” Jayson Tatum mentioned. “We’ve received to acknowledge some issues that we’ve carried out that aren’t so nice. We’ve received to look within the mirror and man up. We’ve simply received to be higher.

“We absolutely consider in ourselves, the issues that we will do after we’re absolutely locked in. We’ve carried out it time and time once more. We’ve had some lapses lately and we’ve simply received to get again on monitor.”

The Sixers had been wholesome, however the Celtics’ different lapse this week got here in opposition to the Magic on Monday, who had been lacking three of their finest gamers. With the Christmas Day loss, the Celtics now personal their first shedding streak of the season.

The Celtics (40.8 %) truly had an above-average taking pictures evening from 3-point vary. It was the little issues that damage the them on this loss. They didn’t hit free-throws, taking pictures 61.5 % as a workforce from the charity stripe. Philadelphia was an ideal 19-for-19.

They took too lengthy to show the correct effort on both finish of the ground, trying sluggish and never absolutely engaged within the first half.

Having Kristaps Porzingis restricted to 13 minutes after tweaking his ankle within the first quarter actually didn’t assist. The 7-foot-2 heart tried to play by the ache, however was clearly hobbled for a number of minutes within the opening stretch.

The Sixers took benefit by turning the tempo up, and the Celtics merely didn’t look prepared to fulfill the problem. Jaylen Brown mentioned the trouble was missing. Effort is the one factor you at all times can management regardless of what’s going on round you.

“I simply assume we got here out too informal,” Brown mentioned. “I simply assume we had been strolling to our spots. No person was sprinting down the court docket, simply type of hanging round, simply making an attempt to veer again to get the ball as an alternative of simply pushing it down the court docket and being aggressive. I really feel like we began off the sport sluggish they usually took benefit of that.”

The offensive rhythm simply felt off, each Brown and coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned. The Celtics had been in a position to clamp down on Philadelphia defensively within the third quarter, permitting simply 16 factors.

Taking part in catch up for the entire evening shouldn’t be a recipe for achievement.

“We’re enjoying inconsistent basketball, so we’ve received to be higher on each ends of the ground, be extra constant on each ends of the ground,” mentioned Mazzulla.

Thirty video games into the season, the Celtics are nonetheless in a reasonably stable spot. They’ve received 73 % of their video games. They’re second within the Jap Convention. They’ve managed a wide range of accidents that didn’t appear as frequent final season.

However there was some slippage in comparison with final 12 months, and it’s been particularly noticeable this week.

It’s a protracted season and nights like this occur, however they’ll’t be allowed to occur persistently. That’s the place effort, self-discipline, and training are available. These sorts of video games should stay irregular if the Celtics wish to elevate Banner 19.

“I believe that’s a good criticism from him,” Al Horford mentioned of Mazzulla’s feedback concerning the inconsistent play. “I simply assume now we have to essentially dive into our work a bit of extra to grasp that we will’t loosen up during times of the sport regardless of the circumstance. Now we have to ensure we’re higher in that regard.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports activities Reporter

Khari Thompson covers skilled sports activities for Boston.com. Earlier than becoming a member of the workforce in 2022, Khari coated faculty soccer for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.