Rock bottom has been reached. In losing 119-115 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics’ 2020-21 season has reached a point in the season where serious questions need to be asked.
Before we continue, let us mention that Boston was missing three key players in All-Star starter Jayson Tatum, 2020 All-Star game starter Kemba Walker, and burgeoning big man Robert Williams.
Let’s continue now. The Thunder were missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of their few star-pedigree players on the roster with an ongoing plantar fasciitis issue. Mike Muscala, one of the few veterans on the roster, was also out with a foot ailment. Al Horford, the team’s most accomplished veteran, has been sitting out because of how competitive he made them.
Tuesday night’s loss was bad no matter how you slice it. Boston had an All-Star in Jaylen Brown, an All-Star in Frank Vogel’s mind in Marcus Smart, and enough talented role players (Evan Fournier, Payton Pritchard, Tristan Thompson) to get past a team that hadn’t won in over a month since they last played the third-worst team in the NBA (and worst at that point), the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Former Boston Celtics champion center Kendrick Perkins went as far as saying that the Cs should be “ashamed of themselves for the performance they displayed” last night:
The @celtics should be ashamed of themselves for the performance they displayed tonight!!! #embarrassing https://t.co/aKeBzEkIwb
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) April 28, 2021
With New York, Miami, and Atlanta all losing on Monday, this was a chance for Boston to make up pivotal ground in the Eastern Conference standings.
Instead, Boston now faces a scenario where they could drop back into play-in tournament seeding with a loss against the Charlotte Hornets tonight.
For the sake of Boston Celtics fans everywhere, last night’s loss better be rock bottom. If it wasn’t, then the winds of change could blow through Beantown like a tornado running through the south in the spring.