BOSTON — A smile emerged across Jaylen Brown’s face as the Celtics star took a question after Sunday’s loss to the Magic as he acknowledged the absurdity of his team’s outside shooting that’s suddenly gone upside down.
The Celtics blitzed through the NBA, storming to the best record to start the season behind elite 3-point shooting, and it was contagious throughout the roster. But over the last week, the script has flipped, and almost all of their shooters have gone cold at the same time. How is that possible?
“That’s just the NBA,” Brown said. “That’s just how the journey goes sometimes. …
“You thought we were just going to shoot lights out for the whole season? (Expletive), I wish. It just never goes like that. But that’s a part of why you love basketball, why I love basketball.”
The Celtics are naturally reverting to the mean when it comes to their 3-point shooting, but they couldn’t have expected this. After shooting 40 percent from deep through their first 26 games, the C’s have gone inexplicably cold. Over their last five games, four of them losses, the Celtics have gone 63-for-220 from downtown, just 28.6 percent. Their three worst shooting performances of the season have come in the last week.
What’s gone wrong? Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla can’t quite explain it.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I think over the course of the season we shot the ball so well to start that there’s naturally going to be a small decline. We just have to maintain our confidence and our trust. We have really good shooters, so just have to stick with it.”
Even in the midst of their shooting slump, Mazzulla said the Celtics have stuck with their principles on offense to create spacing and produce open looks. They’re simply just not knocking them down. But Marcus Smart said Sunday that he thinks the Celtics are pressing, and the numbers are reflecting that.
Brown – who scored 24 points and went 2-for-10 from long range – doesn’t think the Celtics are pressing. He’s not concerned because he thinks they’re still playing the right way offensively.
“I think we got a lot of easy shots,” Brown said. “The amount of assists we had tonight, I didn’t think were indicative of how we were playing the game. The ball was moving around, guys got open looks and open shots. It was just one of them nights where they didn’t go down.
“But we got whatever we wanted. I missed a lot of shots that I could make and were open. A lot of our guys missed shots that we make that were open. So we’ve got to just keep encouraging to take those shots. But I felt like it was just one of those games where I felt like a lid was on the rim.”
Tatum misses second game of year
Jayson Tatum was out for the Celtics on Sunday due to “personal reasons.” It was just the second time the Celtics star has missed a game this season.
Mazzulla didn’t elaborate on Tatum’s status or if he may be back when the C’s return to action Wednesday against the Pacers.
“It’s a personal thing,” Mazzulla said.
Smart OK after head butt
After a wild scramble for a loose ball in the closing seconds that resulted in a Magic possession, Smart inadvertently bumped heads with Orlando’s Kevon Harris as he argued with an official. Smart started bleeding above his eye, and covered it up by wearing a black headband for the rest of the game.
Moments later, the point guard dove to the floor for a loose ball. He was just fine.
“Head’s OK. Eye’s a little sore, but it’s part of the game,” Smart said. “I’m good, they cleared me. No concussion, thank God.”
World Cup fever
Sunday’s epic World Cup final between Argentina and France – which ended with Argentina winning in penalty kicks – reached the Celtics locker room. Mazzulla, an avid soccer fan, was asked his thoughts.
“A lot of yellow cards,” he joked.
Mazzulla was enamored by the battle between Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe, two of the world’s best players.
“I thought it was great,” the coach said. “For a game to go down like that and watch two superstars in Mbappe and Messi, I thought it was just cool to see their passion and the execution. It was fun.”
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