Burden of expectations is weighing on Celtics amid mini-slump

The Boston Celtics are in a slump. Coach Joe Mazzulla has spent the better part of the past couple weeks bracing all of us for this possibility and yet the rough patch arrived like a bit of unexpected airplane turbulence.

The Celtics endured what unequivocally feels like their worst loss of the season on Thursday night against the rival Lakers on a national TV stage. A middling L.A. team, playing without its superstar tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, rode the hot shooting of Austin Reaves to a 114-105 triumph inside a boo-filled TD Garden.

“I don’t mind getting booed,” said Mazzulla. "It’s good for you.”

Mazzulla, whose postgame press conferences are becoming must-watch TV, went so far as to suggest that he’s “ecstatic” about the opportunity to grow from the loss.

An enthralling postgame media session crescendoed with Mazzulla quizzing a reporter about whether he has kids and always listens to his wife as a means to explaining why the team didn’t heed his message about not letting their foot off the gas against an undermanned opponent.

Mazzulla did bristle when it was suggested that Boston’s effort could be classified as embarrassing.

“We sucked tonight,” said Mazzulla. "There’s a difference between saying we sucked at something and saying, ‘You should be embarrassed.’ I think that’s very harsh.”

"Embarrassing" might be harsh, but it’s undeniable that this was Boston’s most maddening loss of the season. There were tough losses to quality Western Conference opponents like Minnesota and Denver. There was a schedule loss in Milwaukee. We could even dismiss a rare shooting dud against the Clippers last Saturday.

But this was the Lakers. A game that’s supposed to matter more regardless of records and personnel.

And it was the way the Celtics lost. The nine unforgivable first-quarter turnovers that showed just how much focus they lacked. It was the inability to pull themselves out of the mud they were running in. It was the way they tried to shoot themselves back into the game instead of rolling up their sleeves.

In a season in which the Celtics have bucked a lot of their more maddening recent trends, this single game left Celtics fans with a heavy dose of PTSD.

The most dangerous teams in past seasons were ones missing at least one star. The Celtics had the second-best turnover rate in January then couldn’t stop throwing the ball away in the first quarter to start February. Boston’s inability to steady itself when things get tough was a common theme in recent years.

The confluence of all that is what made the Lakers loss sting just a bit more than usual. It’s why the word "embarrassing" comes up in conversation about the game.

The Celtics started the season 20-0 at home, and it felt like they might never lose inside the Garden again. They’ve lost three of five at home since.

Perspective is important here. The Celtics still own the best record in basketball. They remain 4.5 games up on their nearest competition in the East. But this seven-game homestand felt like a real chance for Boston to leave its rivals in the dust and grab a Fast Pass to the top seed in the conference.

Instead, the Celtics are left answering questions about what’s gone wrong. This might ultimately be remembered as a mere blip on the journey. In the moment, it always feels a bit worse.

With all that said, there is little reason that a team with as much overall talent as the Celtics should ever play as poor as we saw on Thursday night. Boston’s starters were a season-worst minus-14 in 17 minutes together. How four of Boston’s starters could slump in the same game is baffling, especially for the second time in a week.

Mazzulla pulled the trio of Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday less than three minutes into the third quarter with that trio clearly struggling to bring the proper energy. This should have been a night to celebrate Brown’s latest All-Star nod. Instead, the Celtics' cry to get their entire starting five to Indiana seemed foolish as that group turned in its worst outing of the season.

Jayson Tatum did his best to try to infuse some energy but even a hustle sequence where he forced a jump ball diving on the floor in the third quarter couldn’t get the Celtics on track.

Slumps are inevitable. Even the 1995-96 Bulls lost two games in a row once. We’ll always remember one of Dennis Rodman’s quotes after losing a game in Denver that season when he said, “I expected us to lose sometime. But I felt bad because we played bad. We beat ourselves. That team is not that good to beat us. I’m not giving that team no credit at all.”

Give the Lakers some credit. Reaves was ridiculous. D’Angelo Russell — a known Derrick White fan — was fantastic, too. The Lakers’ players knew they were going to be in a national spotlight and embraced it.

This mess will be largely forgotten if the Celtics kick back into overdrive, particularly with a rather advantageous schedule taking them up to the All-Star break. There is a chance to create some real separation from the group of teams chasing them in the East. If they put in the work now, they can set this thing on cruise control at the finish line of the regular season.

But they got caught on cruise control Thursday.

These Celtics have to show they understand the level of play wasn’t acceptable. They need to show they understood why they heard boos and, like Mazzulla desires, channel them the right way.

Slumps are inevitable. But the Celtics can dictate just how long this one lasts.