When you think of teams with multiple All-Stars, you think of dominance – the Jazz, the Lakers, the Nets. The Celtics have two All-Stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but after Wednesday-evening’s eruptive loss to the Hawks, Boston is in last place in the Atlantic Division.
Team chairman Danny Ainge, however, is not ready to throw his star tandem under the bus.
“I wish I had answers for you. Not me,” Ainge said Thursday at 98.5 The Sports Hub. “I believe in my players. I like them all individually. I think they have a bright future. I just think our team is in a big funk right now.”
Funk may not be a strong enough word to describe Wednesday’s game. After a heartbreaking loss to the Mavericks, the Celtics trailed 13 at a quarter and 23 at the half. They allowed the most 3-pointers in team history.
Brown had 17 points for the Celtics and missed all six of his three-point attempts. Tatum was held at 13 points on 4-of-20 shots and was only 1-of-8 from long range.
The Celtics have now lost three in a row, falling two games under .500. They dropped eight of the eleven games in total and are looking to the playoffs on the outside.
“This is what’s most important about Jaylen and Jayson,” Ainge said. “They’ve been foreclosed before because they had other really good players, veterans around them as they developed – and went to three of the four Eastern Conference [finals]
‘Now it’s on them. Now it is the stars. And they have the big contracts. And they have the All-Star kinks. So the microscope is on it. ‘
Kemba Walker is one of those veteran All-Stars. After a career year in Charlotte, Boston signed him to a $ 141 million four-year deal last season. He put in solid numbers and took some heat from Brown and Tatum.
This year, a knee injury limited him to 16 games. His average score is his worst in five years, shooting just 37.5% off the floor. The Celtics withheld him from the game on Wednesday to avoid a back-to-back, and Boston was throttled.
Like last week, Ainge says the problems with the Celtics lie more with him than with his young stars or coach Brad Stevens.
“This is a problem for me,” Ainge said. “I say I love my two young guys, they are not perfect, and they are learning, and this setback is part of their growth and development – not on purpose, it is just the nature of the beast.”
But Ainge said he is not trying to make excuses.
“We’re playing awful,” he said. “We don’t have a good enough team – in my opinion.”
He added that he is not looking for a change because of the change, “but I am looking for something that will make a difference in our team.”
The Celtics’ first chance to get back on track comes home to a struggling Pacers squad on Friday. Then it’s the resurgent Wizards in town on Sunday for games against the Clippers, Raptors and Nets.
Bradley Beal, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, Kyrie Irving – the Celtics will face a host of All-Stars and will soon find out if their duo is doing well.
“I think they are both responsible,” Ainge said of Brown and Tatum. ‘You’re talking about two hard-working kids trying to get better. And this is a very frustrating time for them. ‘