The Celtics are on the precipice of being swept by the Heat. However, that isn’t their biggest concern because The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reports that the team “feels like a group that’s tired of fake liking each other.”
If being down 3-0 wasn’t bad enough, Boston is now fraught with chemistry issues. While they’ve dealt with internal predicaments in the past, O’Connor surmises that the manner in which they are losing games is exacerbating their problems. Consequently, the team is pretending to like each other.
“And this is a Celtics team that had chemistry issues in the past,” O’Connor said. “They got through it, they got better. But I’ve had a source tell me in the past week that this Celtics team feels like a group that’s tired of fake liking each other. “
Can Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown coexist?
Additionally, O’Connor believes that a retooling of their roster is imminent. Specifically, insinuating that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown may have run their course together.
“They’ve been around each other forever,” O’Connor added. “They’ve been through it before. But I think it’s at the point now, especially given the way that they’ve lost this series, or will lose this series against the Heat, that they got to shake things up. They’ve got to shake it up on different levels, which brings us to Jayson Tatum.
He’s too passive. He feels more like a 1B, not a 1A — we saw it in the Finals last year against the Warriors. We’re seeing it again right now against the Miami Heat. How he’s not taking these shots in the fourth quarter, blows my mind.
Jaylen Brown lacks dribbling skills at an elite level. He lacks leadership. And this brings into the question, just really what does it mean, what level can you reach if you have two wings that are your lead ball handlers?”
The Celtics will look to stave off elimination in Game 4 on Tuesday.
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