NBA: Celtics “A Team Divided”

After losing back to back home games to the Los Angeles Lakers (28-28, #10 in the West) 129-128 & Los Angeles Clippers (31-26, #8 in the West) 123-112, the Boston Celtics (35-21, #5 in the East) have been stuck in the middle of the pack all season. Most teams would most likely be content with this position in their respective conference. However, due to the Celtics making it all the way to the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a epic Game 7, this season’s expectations have proven to be too much for the young core to recover from. Celtics Small Forward Marcus Morris gave The Boston Globe his honest take on what is the Celtics problem this season: “I watch all these other teams around the league and guys are up on the bench, they’re jumping on the court, they’re enjoying their teammates’ success. They’re enjoying everything, they’re playing together, and they’re playing to win. And when I look at us, I just see a bunch of individuals.” The Boston Celtics blew a 28 point lead vs the LA Clippers. In my opinion, the 2019 Trade Deadline has made an impact on this young core similar to the Los Angeles Lakers. Young Stars like Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart & Jaylen Brown know that Celtics Owner Danny Ainge will trade any of them in a package deal for Pelicans Superstar Anthony Davis this summer. On The other side of the court, Celtics superstars Kyrie Irving & Gordon Hayward are still struggling to be consistent leaders for the team. With Hayward on minute restrictions and Irving struggling to stay healthy for a full season (Knees), the Celtics who was the favorite to make it out of the Lebron-Free Eastern Conference will now have to figure out how to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia Sixers, Toronto Raptors & Indiana Pacers. In my opinion, even if the Celtics beat these elite team in the East, I can’t see them surviving a 7-game series vs the Golden State Warriors due to a severe lack of team chemistry combined with individual agendas. Head Coach Brad Stevens will have to be able to do more than just draw up plays to save the day in The TD Garden.