The Celtics Plague
The Celtics have been in a rut. A bad stretch. I’ll just say it, a slump.
As far as I can tell, it all started with that Rockets game. We blew a big lead which we should have been able to keep, and only took it to overtime because of an insane shot from Jaylen Brown. Ever since then there’s just been something off about the team and I don’t really know what. I’m looking at the box scores trying to find a common factor, but the only thing I can find comes after that Rockets game, so let’s focus there for a moment.
Rockets game aside, the Celtics are 1-2 in their last three games, when they should be 3-0. The Nets game from hell, a Cavs game we were slated to win, and a Thunder game which slipped away in the final seconds. All three of these games have something more or less in common - the Hospital Celtics.
That Nets game was the first game in a while that the whole team played together with no injuries. Now, while this may sound like a good thing, there have to have been some chemistry issues there. You got a group of guys who are supposed to be playing together and competing at the highest level, and they have barely played yet this season. So when you put them all back together for the first time in a while there’s bound to be some bumps to iron out. The worst part of it all, though, was that we didn’t even get the chance to play together. Tatum somehow got sick before the game and before you knew it, Brown and Hayward both magically got hurt again, and the Hospital Celtics were back in action.
Now, I’m not big on excuses, and this is no excuse for blowing such big leads against the Rockets and Nets, or the game against the Thunder. This is just me expressing my frustration with the team’s health issues this season. In fact, it’s been more than just this season. Aside from the playoffs last year, when we had other issues at hand, we’ve had injuries plaguing our team for the past four years.
It all started with Isaiah Thomas’ injury in the playoffs that, realistically, prevented us from truly competing with the Cavs that year. After that, it was Gordon in the first game of the season, and then Kyrie later in the year. In hindsight, this gave Tatum and Brown a chance to blossom, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Last year we didn’t have too many bad injuries, but Hayward was still recovering, and we had plenty of other issues to iron out. Then there’s this year, where Kemba is missing more games than ever, Brown is hurt again, Hayward’s had more freak injuries, and our entire bench somehow is going to catch the coronavirus. I just don’t know anymore.
My only prayer is that we can manage to get healthy for the playoffs, because if fully healthy, I think this team could do some serious damage.
