Why Zach Lowe isn't 'worried' about Celtics' ugly slump
01/16/2025 01:47 PM
After the Boston Celtics lost to the Toronto Raptors, 110-97, it has amplified the noise of the team slumping tremendously coming off a championship-winning season. As some in the basketball media word such as Shaquille O’Neal say the Celtics aren’t the best team in the Eastern Conference and have fallen off the hype with them, NBA analyst Zach Lowe is not one of them.
Lowe would take to social media, specifically on X, formerly Twitter, where he shared that he is “not worried” about the recent off-performances from Boston, especially after being upset by Toronto. He would say that besides “championship hangover,” there are a couple of players who aren’t shooting to their standards and are missing a “versatile perimeter reserve.”
“I’m not worried about the Celtics yet — this stretch reeks of mid-season malaise — but it is very, very important to note that they deserve to lose when they wear the hideous jerseys they wore last night,” Lowe wrote. “The basketball gods took note.”
“Biggest reason for any Celtics anxiety is the top of the East/path to Finals looks much harder than last season,” Lowe continued. “Beyond that (and aside from championship hangover) a few guys not shooting as well + some nights where they could use one more versatile perimeter reserve. Not worried.”
Boston is 2-3 in their last five games and looking at the Raptors defeat, it was an ugly stat sheet as such players as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had 16 and 10 points respectively in negative shooting nights.
Few Celtics players speak on the “s***” they are going through
Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis was the best in the starting lineup as he finished with 18 points on shooting seven of 11 from the field, but he was not thrilled with the team’s performances, using an NSFW response to share his message.
"Tonight feels like s**t right now, and we played some bad basketball," Porzingis said according to The Boston Globe.
Even with how he’s feeling about the loss, Porzingis would make an effort to say how the team is not “panicking” according to Justin Turpin.
"If we were panicking, I wouldn't tell you,” Porzingis said. “But we are not. But we are in a bad moment right now, for sure… We have to be honest and look at ourselves individually."
Kristaps Porzingis and the #Celtics aren't panicking about this stretch:
"If we were panicking, I wouldn't tell you. But we are not. But we are in a bad moment right now, for sure… We have to be honest and look at ourselves individually."
@NBCSCelticspic.twitter.com/hw5TXEJezj
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) January 16, 2025
For the Celtics to get back to their winning ways, they have to get out of the shooting slump they are in as against the Raptors, they shot 39.6 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range. It starts with Tatum and the other stars as he acknowledges that they are “going through some s***” per John Karalis of the Boston Sports Journal.
"We’re going through some s**t right now," Tatum said. "It’s tough, but we said after the game we got to go through it together, as best we can, stick together."
At any rate, the Celtics are 28-12 which puts them second in the Eastern Conference as they host the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
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