Brad Stevens pleads for Celtics to be ‘more engaged in each other’ following loss to Kings

The Celtics fell below .500 following Friday's loss to the Kings.

Brad Stevens' Celtics have struggled as of late.

March 20, 2021

3 minutes to read

Brad Stevens began his Friday evening by saying he’s a “Masshole.” By evening’s end, Stevens sounded like one.

Stevens’ Celtics squad lost for the fourth time in five games, this time falling to a 16-24 Kings team. Friday’s loss also pushed the Celtics below .500 for the season. The usual calm and mild-mannered Celtics coach wasn’t that when speaking to reporters following Friday’s game. Instead, Stevens was notably frustrated, airing his frustration at the team like many in the area have done for much of the season.

“I think we need to be more engaged in each other,” Stevens said. “I think teams are fragile things, and guys are trying, and they’re all really good guys trying, but sometimes even when you’re giving good effort or you have a group of possessions that go pretty well, five guys engaged does a lot. And we just haven’t had that recently. And that’s, that’s concerning.

“We have to play as a team. We have to be able to move past a mistake or a missed shot or a missed opportunity or them banking a shot in from (3-point range), and move on. And show a great mindset, show a little resolve. And put that together throughout the game. We have not done that. That is clear. And our challenge moving forward is the only way that happens is if you do it as a team. So, you got to get engaged in each other. And you need to fight through these tough times. And if you’re not going to do that then there’s going to be a lot more tough times.”

There are some stats that could suggest that the Celtics aren’t as engaged with each other as much as Stevens would like them to be. Their 22.6 assists per game are the fourth-worst in the league. They run isolation plays on 8.1 percent of their plays, according to NBA.com, which is tied for the sixth-most in the league. However, they have the seventh-worst iso efficiency in the league.

Stevens was asked if he would change the starting lineup to help shake things up. But Stevens pointed out that Friday’s starting lineup (which featured Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Daniel Theis) hasn’t started together since the end of January and it was just the third time this season that group started together.

He again re-inforced the importance of his players being engaged with each other.

“My biggest thing is this, we have a certain ceiling to us if we’re not completely engaged in each other,” Stevens said. “We got to play well to win. And if we’re not playing well, it’s not going to end well.”

“You have to be so engaged to win an NBA game that when you’re not, you don’t. And so we’re not,” Stevens later added. “That’s what we have to fix. The changes, or the lineup changes, or starting lineup, it’s got to be 17 guys dying to play well together and I think the fun follows that, right? You share it. You dive on the floor, you rebound, you’re tough every single play.”

“It’s got to be 17 guys dying to play well together.”

Brad Stevens sounding visibly frustrated after the Celtics loss to the Kings pic.twitter.com/IZwOJVZZxU

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 20, 2021

At the end of the day, Stevens took accountability for the Celtics’ performance as of late.

“You know what, it’s fair to say that’s on me,” Stevens said. “And it’s fair to say that’s something that I need to make sure that we have. And I’m going to do my best whether it’s finding different groups or whether it’s getting the most out of the group that has the highest potential then that’s what we’re going to do.”