Watch CBS News

Brad Stevens Reaches Boiling Point After Celtics Loss To Hawks

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics delivered their second straight dud on Tuesday night, something we aren't used to seeing from this year's team.

We also saw something else Tuesday night that we aren't used to seeing: Brad Stevens getting very, very upset.

The Celtics were trounced 121-97 by the Atlanta Hawks in their first appearance on National TV, an embarrassing loss for a team who just a week ago was embarrassing some of the best teams in the league. That included those same Hawks, who the Celtics beat 106-93 in Boston 12 days ago.

But after Tuesday night's effort -- or should we say, lack thereof -- Stevens let his frustration be known in the locker room. The usually calm coach was anything but, according to his players.

"He was very upset," Isaiah Thomas told reporters. "That's the most mad I've seen him since I've been here, and he said that's as mad as he's been since his first year here."

Stevens' anger already at a high level from Sunday night's loss to the lowly Nets, when the C's allowed Brooklyn to score 111 points while shooting 50.6 percent. After such a horrendous effort against such a horrendous team, Tuesday night was supposed to be a bounce-back game for Boston. Instead, their defensive struggles continued and within five minutes they were down by double digits.

When it was over, and Stevens had to stomach watching the Hawks shoot 56.3 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point land for 48 minutes, the coach's anger had reached its boiling point.

"We had this coming. We haven't played well in a few days now," Stevens told reporters, noting that even in Boston's blowout win over Brooklyn last Friday, he felt his team only played one good quarter. "We'll see how we respond to it.

"I think we have to reconnect," he added before letting his criticism of the team let loose. "We're not playing basketball as a team on either end of the floor. We've had good quarters that have masked our deficiencies and we need to get back to being a team, we need to get back in one direction. And I think the best way we'll be able to recognize it is if we guard somebody once."

Ouch. Those are some harsh words for a team who very recently was making some of the NBA's better offenses look inept. In their defense, they are guarding guys, they're just not doing a very good job at it over the last three days.

But Stevens' concerns should come as no surprise. Just last week he told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand his team had to continue to improve on the defensive end, and he'd have to see that exceptional effort every night in order for the team to win. The C's coach echoed those feelings after Tuesday's loss, only this time, he was a little more fired up about the cause.

"I've made mention of this so many times, and I hope I'm not repeating myself too much. But if we don't play well we'll lose," he said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing. And if we play even less than that, we'll get blown out. And that's why we had this coming."

The Celtics are certainly missing the suffocating defense that Marcus Smart brings to the floor, with the guard sidelined for a few weeks with a left leg injury. That explains some of the team's defensive deficiencies as of late, but shouldn't be an excuse for allowing 232 points over the last two games.

Brad Stevens doesn't get upset very often, but as we learned Tuesday night, even the most mild-mannered man has his breaking point. If you've made Stevens upset, then you know you've really done something bad.

Looking at Boston's defensive efforts over their last two games, it's easy to see why he went off. Hopefully now, someone will go guard someone.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.