In a season which has seen the Boston Celtics fight through their fair share of ups and downs, last night's collapse against the Los Angeles may have been one of their worst showings. The Celtics were well in control of things, up until the point in which Kyrie Irving succumbed to an injury and was forced out of the game. Irving clipped his knee in the 2nd quarter of action, never to return - his injury to be re-assessed this afternoon by team officials.
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Take this into account: with Kyrie Irving at the helm in the first half, the Boston Celtics had built an advance of 28 points. Without him, the Clippers would eventually erase the deficit and come away with a 123-112 win. With their heads turned down, it was veteran forward Marcus Morris who gave his teammates a dose of reality after the game - his comments doting on a lack of "joy" and "team play."
"For me, it's not really about the loss it's about the attitudes that we're playing with. You got guys hanging their heads. It's just not fun," Morris said. "I don't see the joy in the game. I watch all these other teams in the league, guys jumping on the bench, jumping on the court...when I look at us I see a bunch of individuals."
Morris' criticism of his younger teammates falls in line with the general rhetoric surrounding Kyrie Irving's discontent this season. Weeks ago, Irving questioned his teammates "Championship Pedigree" in an attempt to get under their skin. The criticism, constructive or otherwise, seems to have had the unintended effect of worsening the climate in the Boston Celtics' locker room. Kyrie did, after all, reverse his "Free Agent" commitment in the wake of all the calamity.
