The Celtics are 7-7 and sporting the league’s sixth-best defensive rating, but head coach Brad Stevens is still unsatisfied with what he’s seen and lashed out at his team following Boston’s 121-97 loss Tuesday night in Atlanta.
Brad Stevens rips the Celtics’ ‘sieve’ defense
The normally-stoic Stevens was anything but after Boston’s blowout loss to Atlanta.
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
“We had this coming. We haven’t played well in a few days now. Even when we beat Brooklyn at home we had [only one] good quarter,” Stevens said afterwards, via ESPN. “We had this coming. We’ll see how we respond to it.”
The loss to the Hawks, which took place in front of a national audience, marked the second-straight game that the Celtics allowed their opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the field. It was his team’s weak defense, which allowed the Hawks to hit 56 percent of their shots, that had Steven most peeved Tuesday night.
“The best way that we will be able to recognize [playing better] is if we guard somebody once,” he said, later adding: “When your defense is a sieve, you’re not a team.”
Stevens is known for always maintaining a calm demeanor and his stoic face. His outburst Tuesday night caught many of his players by surprise.
"He was upset. He was very upset," Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas said, via Masslive.com. "That's the most mad I've seen him since I've been here, and he said that's as mad as he's been since his first year here."
Boston’s next game is Wednesday night at home against the winless Sixers.
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