On paper, the Boston Celtics had already made 17 3s, only one shy of their season common with almost three-quarters of 1 / 4 to go. By comparability, the Houston Rockets had transformed solely 9. However Friday evening’s dismal displaying — a lopsided 109-86 loss to the reigning champs — was one more painful reminder of the offensive shortcomings augmented by an absence of our bodies, an absence of cohesion and, in the end, an absence of an environment friendly, trendy system. “I’m going to be honest,” veteran Jeff Green said. “It’s tough with Jabari (Smith Jr.) going down. He’s an important piece of what we do. It’s going to take a while for us to get used to the rotations, who’s out on the ground, due to what he dropped at the group. So collectively, we have to do our half in making one another look good, however we have now to do it as a committee. We’ve got to go on the market, share the ball and play extra collectively. And that’s going to take a while, however with the personnel and coaches we have now, we’ll work out one thing.” -via New York Times / January 4, 2025
