BOSTON - Doc Rivers said it would take some time before his team would jell into a cohesive unit defensively.
Apparently the wait will be more than two games, as the C's delivered yet another underwhelming defensive performance.
And just like the season opener at Miami on Tuesday, Boston's struggles defensively ended with yet another defeat, 99-88 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Needless to say, C's coach Doc Rivers isn't happy with what he has seen thus far from his team defensively.
In terms of where his concern level is after two games, Rivers said, "I'm concerned all the time, but like you said, you kind of said it; it's early. If this was game 30 and we were playing like this consistently, then I would be worried. If it was game 30 and we'd been playing well and we play like this once, you live with it."
Still, the struggles Boston has experienced in the first two games mirror the team's defensive problems throughout the preseason.
But unlike the season opener in which the C's lost 120-107, Friday's loss was one in which they had problems at both ends of the floor.
"I thought our defense was bad all night," Rivers said. "But I thought our offense - you know, that thing where you start struggling on offense, you get down, and then you start to not playing defense - I thought that was a lot of it."
And it seemed every effort made by the Celtics to cut into the Bucks lead, was followed by the Bucks making the necessary plays to re-affirm their control of the game.
Falling behind by as many as 22, the Celtics trimmed Milwaukee's lead to 15 with 6:11 to play when Bucks coach Scott Skiles called a timeout.
Boston got back into the game with its defense, something that the C's had not shown much of through the first three quarters.
Out of the timeout, the C's rally continued following a jumper by Jason Terry.
But the Bucks withstood the Celtics charge by getting back to doing what they had done all game - attack the Celtics in transition.
And within a minute, the C's were down 89-72 as fans steadily began to make their way for the exits.
Even with an emotionally charged crowd cheering them on from the game's outset, the C's never put together any semblance of a team that's rooted in strong play defensively.
The concern at the start of camp was that the C's would get into the habit of trying to shoot themselves to victory because of the overwhelming number of new additions who are primarily offensive-minded players.
But what happens when their shots don't fall?
You get games like the home opener against the Bucks, a team that the C's have owned in sweeping them each of the last two seasons.
Still, this is a different season, involving two very different teams.
Milwaukee has a lethal 1-2 punch in the backcourt with Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings.
The duo combined for 23 of Milwaukee's 46 points in the first half which ended with the Bucks leading, 46-30. Ellis and Jennings finished with 14 and 21 points, respectively.
In addition to his 21 points, Jennings also had a Rajon Rondo-like 13 assists.
Jennings acknowledged after the game that there was added motivation for him to play well against Rondo who had 14 points and 11 assists.
"He (Rondo) didn't just have good games, he owned me," Jennings said. "To be honest with you. But this is a different year and I have to be more aggressive."
As the Bucks lead continued to blossom, the C's committed the cardinal sin - they tried to shoot their way back into the game.
Naturally, that only made things worse as the Bucks pulled ahead by as many as 18 in the first half.
After cutting the Bucks lead to 13 in the third quarter, Milwaukee soon pushed it up to 20 following a lay-up by Ellis.
Not helping matters for the C's was the fact that Paul Pierce literally could not get a shot to go down.
Trailing 68-48 with 3:29 to play in the third, Pierce had just two points - both coming from the free throw line - while missing all six of his shots from the field.
The Captain finished with 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting.
Even though it's still early in the season, that didn't stop the boo birds from making an appearance as the C's continued to stumble and bumble their way with no signs of slowing down the beating administered by the Bucks.
Not only was Milwaukee crushing the C's with their transition game, but they were also pounding the Celtics on the boards.
It was a humbling defeat, the kind that the C's won't soon forget about.
Fortunately for them they won't have too much time to dwell on it, not with another game - at Washington on Saturday - right around the corner.
With Friday's loss dropping them to 0-2, the C's now look to avoid an 0-3 start for the first time since 2006 - the year before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came aboard.