Jaylen Brown gives honest assessment of C’s effort after OKC loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jaylen Brown knows the Boston Celtics’ effort level in Tuesday night’s blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was unacceptable.
The C’s star didn’t mince words after the game in his assessment of the team’s performance in the 150-117 defeat. Asked what happened that led to Boston’s worst loss of the season, Brown gave a brutally honest answer.
Celtics-Thunder takeaways: C’s defense reaches new low in blowout loss
“We got our ass kicked. That’s what happened,” Brown said. “You come out, you take it for granted and that’s what happens. We probably had it coming to us. Came out the last couple of games, we pick and choose when we want to play.
“We weren’t connected, didn’t have each other’s back out there. No help side defense, we didn’t guard our yard. Those young boys over there came out and made us look bad. They embarrassed us. They kicked our ass and that’s what happened.”
Brown was a bright spot with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting, although he’d be the first to tell you his defense was not up to standard. Nor was the rest of the team.
The Celtics allowed 122 points through three quarters. Their previous high for points allowed in regulation this season was 123 in Sunday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. It was only the third time in franchise history they allowed 150 or more points in a game.
C”s interim coach Joe Mazzulla did not hesitate to admit his team “gave up.”
“Yeah we did, they played harder than us the whole game,” Mazzulla said. “Like I referenced the Phoenix game, you have to play with a sense of humility every night knowing your opponent wants to beat you. We have to match that and we didn’t. We got outplayed in every aspect of the game.”
The Thunder shot 59.2 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range despite missing their best player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, due to a non-COVID illness. That undoubtedly took the C’s by surprise as a veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon admitted they underestimated their opponent after learning of Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence.
“We took a deep breath and relaxed. Honestly, we should know better than to come out and not play with aggression, not play with energy and urgency,” he said. via The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
Boston is now 5-7 since last month’s loss at Golden State. It’ll look to get back on track when it heads to Dallas for a showdown with Luka Doncic and the Mavericks on Thursday.
You can watch Brown’s full postgame press conference below: