The Boston Celtics have not had a great start to the season, entering Wednesday’s action at 2-5 that most recently saw them blow a 19-point lead in the second half to the Bulls in what was a truly hideous fourth quarter.
The good news is they were headed to Orlando to face a Magic team that is among the league’s worst — although, one coming off a stunning win over Minnesota. Still, there were clearly some things to work out long term after that loss to the Bulls, particularly after Marcus Smart aired his grievances with the Celtics’ two stars not passing in the fourth quarter, saying that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have to get better at getting the rest of the team involved late in games so they aren’t so predictable.
Neither Tatum nor Brown spoke after the Bulls loss, and apparently things came to a head in an “emotional” players only meeting in Orlando that, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, wasn’t particularly helpful.
Reporting for NBA Countdown on the Celtics holding a players-only meeting in Orlando – and how there remains a lot of work to be done among franchise’s key players. pic.twitter.com/1fQ7VmDsdC
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 3, 2021
It seems rare that a players only meeting works wonders for a team and fixes all of their problems, but that the Celtics are just seven games into the season and needed to air things out already seems like an especially bad omen for this team. Maybe they can turn things around and get on the same page, but the task for Ime Udoka in his first season on the Celtics bench is not an enviable one as it appears talking it out amongst themselves wasn’t the cure all for the tension in the locker room.