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What the Boston Celtics’ are saying after first 0-3 start since 2013-14
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- What the Boston Celtics’ are saying after first 0-3 start since 2013-14
Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
The post What the Boston Celtics' are saying after first 0-3 start since 2013-14 appeared first on ClutchPoints .
For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Boston Celtics have opened their campaign with three straight losses. Their latest setback, a 119-113 defeat to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, has left the team searching for answers and perspective after a surprisingly sluggish start.
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Guard Payton Pritchard , who finished with 21 points, spoke candidly after the defeat . "Still three games in," Pritchard said via NBC Sports Boston . "I think this is my first time really going on a three-game losing streak. So it's unfamiliar. It's a little adversity. So you look at this and you use it to make us better.
But we'll look at it, do offensive things, defensive things that we can add to make us better."
Head coach Joe Mazzulla echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that effort must now meet execution. "What matters is making sure we continue to stick to the process of trying to win," Mazzulla said.
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"We had a 17-point lead today. We gotta close the second quarter better. Obviously, the fouls and the rebounds. I thought we played a complete game with the effort, and now we gotta play a complete game with effort and execution."
The Celtics started hot, jumping out to a 14-2 lead and leading by as many as 17 points before watching the advantage vanish in the second half. Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 41 points, while Derrick White added 15 and Anfernee Simons contributed 12 off the bench.
Despite flashes of offensive rhythm, Boston's defensive lapses and rebounding issues proved costly, a pattern that has plagued them across all three early-season losses.
Boston is navigating this rough patch without Jayson Tatum , who remains sidelined, as well as key departures Jrue Holiday , Kristaps Porzingis , and Al Horford . Their absence has forced the Celtics to rely on a smaller, guard-heavy rotation while integrating new pieces.
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Still, this 0-3 start serves as both a wake-up call and a test of character for a team long defined by its resilience. For a franchise that measures itself by banners, not beginnings, Boston's focus now shifts from frustration to adjustment, because as Pritchard put it, "a little adversity" might be exactly what the Celtics need to spark a turnaround.
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