The Boston Celtics' loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday was a familiar sight. After falling behind by 23, the C's made a comeback bid in the fourth quarter only to lose by five points.
That "too little, too late" storyline is becoming a tiresome one for Brad Stevens. Following the latest defeat, the Celtics head coach didn't hold back when voicing his frustrations with the team's ongoing struggles.
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"The most frustrating part is we let adversity take us out of what we're doing for too long," Stevens said. ... "It's just the same old story. It's like, 12-minute droughts because we don't respond. ... "We've got to respond better in the middle of the game, and we just haven't. That's the bottom line. I feel bad that the new guys are hearing this because they don't deserve it, because they haven't been a part of it, but it's been the same old script. ...
"They took us out of it and they forced us, because that's probably our reputation to not respond for 10 to 12 minutes," Stevens added. "And that changed the game."
Stevens didn't stop there. He went on to stress that the Celtics need to start responding to the adversity ASAP, otherwise they can kiss this season's aspirations goodbye.
"As a coach you should always not put a ceiling on your team and you should always have faith. That said, it's not time to dream about the future. It's time to do it now," Stevens said.
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"LIke, we need to play better. We need to show up and compete every night with urgency, all the way through the game regardless of what just happened. And so, I don't really care about the future and I don't really care about the first 48 games. Like, what are we going to do? That's just the question. It's time to show up."
That's two straight losses for the inconsistent C's, who now are 23-25 on the season and eighth in the Eastern Conference.
Next up for Boston is a Friday night matchup vs. the lowly Houston Rockets at TD Garden. If the Celtics can't find a way to turn things around in that game, it's safe to say we can expect more "Mad Brad" at the podium.