The Celtics are improving, but Saturday’s loss to the Cavs a reminder of growing pains from top to bottom

You can’t blame guys who don’t play for being cold when you throw them in the fire long enough to get burned.

The Boston Celtics were fully in command of their road contest with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday before another major late collapse sent the Celtics back into possession of a losing record, with the 91 – 89 loss dropping Boston to 6 – 7 for the season.

Bad defense, poor shooting, low effort in the second half, a lack of respect for their opponent and players being out injured are all factors contributing to the loss, but head coach Ime Udoka put his finger on the primary cause of the collapse while speaking with the media after the game that night.

According to the coach, the team was “stagnant on offense in the fourth quarter, (allowing) 8 second-chance points rebounds, especially at the end of the game.”