The Celtics followed up their thrilling overtime win on Friday over the Raptors with a less than stellar effort on Saturday in a 98-86 loss to the Jazz at home. Yes, it was on the second game of a back-to-back after an emotional overtime win, but the same problems that have kept Boston from breaking out for a long winning streak showed back up against the Jazz and that has frustrations high in the Celtics locker room.
Boston’s two young star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continue to struggle shooting the ball, with Brown going 1-for-9 from the field for three points and Tatum going 5-for-11 for 10 points. Brown and Tatum are both coming off spectacular 2017-18 seasons, but neither has been able to be as effective or efficient so far this year.
Tatum and Brown’s starts to the season are a not so friendly reminder that it’s impossible to project linear growth on young players, because NBA careers rarely follow a smooth, upward trajectory. There are peaks and valleys, particularly for young players still learning and developing as players — and as the league learns how to attack them.
With their massive success a year ago, the expectations coming into the season on both players were sky high and to this point neither has been able to replicate their play from last season. Kyrie Irving told reporters on Saturday night that he felt they were letting those expectations affect them by reacting negatively when shots don’t fall and letting it linger, via Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“Whatever word you want to use,” Irving said, when asked if he thought his two young teammates were pressing too much. “I just think that, for the amount of work that, like I said before, that guys put in, I think they have expectations for themselves, and I think that’s completely normal. Getting beaten down on [missing] shots or not being in the right spots … I think that we just have to find the happy balance between those two.
“Going on this early part of the regular season, teams are coming at us, so they’re expecting to make shots, they have a great rhythm; then we get hit in the mouth a few times, and we just gotta be able to respond.”
The young Celtics found themselves in leadership roles on and off the court last year by force of injuries to Irving and Gordon Hayward, and they thrived despite being thrown into the fire. This season, however, the expectations didn’t come as a surprise, and as such there’s more pressure placed on them because the stakes are higher for Boston, who entered the season as the favorites in the East.
There’s plenty of time to figure things out and at 9-7 it’s not like it’s been a disastrous start to the season. Still, there are questions to be answered by those young players and for the Celtics staff who must figure out a way to make them comfortable and get them back on track so they as a team can accomplish their goal of getting to the Finals.
