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Scalabrine On Toucher & Rich: 'Thousand Reasons' Why Celtics Are Playing Poor

BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Celtics dropped their fifth straight game Tuesday night with a 100-85 loss to the New York Knicks.

The Celtics were without Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee, both out with injuries, and their sloppy played doomed them early. Boston turned the ball over 20 times, and the Knicks got 21 more shots than Boston.

Why are the Celtics playing so poorly with the playoff right around the corner? Former Celtic Brian Scalabrine joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday to try to figure it out.

"They have guys that are injured, they're in the dog days and guys are ready for the playoffs. I could give you a thousand reasons (they're playing so bad)," said Scal. "There are a lot of mixed signals out there -- do they want to be great playing for the playoffs? Half the people are saying they want the confidence, they want their shot to drop. The other half is like it doesn't really matter and it's a reset when the playoffs start."

"I don't know why they get blasted at home by 20. Last night they didn't play bad defensively; they just couldn't get a defensive rebound," he said. "It was like the return of small ball; there were no centers or big presence down low. I don't think you can win that way in the NBA. You can win a game, win a quarter, but you can't win consistently playing small."

Scal also talked about Knicks forward Kenyon Martin, and why he isn't on the Celtics. And how much does Scal like Maroon 5? Find out:

Brian Scalabrine On Toucher & Rich

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