The Boston Celtics are in a little funk at the moment.
After leading the Eastern Conference standings for most of the season, three straight losses have dropped Boston behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks. (Disregard his intentional misses for stats.)
Even without Jaylen Brown, the Celtics had an opportunity to get up off the mat against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon would drop 32 and 24 points, respectively. And the Celtics even held a 92-78 lead in the fourth quarter. But ultimately, after moments like Grant Williams’ unfortunate self-jinx at the charity stripe, Boston would fall 118-114 in overtime.
After the game, rather than speak to the press immediately, the Celtics’ locker room was empty. Why? They were apparently getting a team-wide lift in the gym in. Uh, alright?
The Celtics locker room is empty right now postgame. The entire team is getting a lift in.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) March 7, 2023
It should be noted the Celtics lifting after games isn’t a new concept for the team. Sometimes it can be healthy to work your body after a grinding few hours of competition:
Another post-win Celtics lift pic.twitter.com/euubizekOG
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) January 30, 2022
But … I’m not sure how this kind of thing actually helps with struggles in on-court action. The Celtics just suffered back-to-back overtime defeats amidst a three-game losing streak. Is subjecting the body to more punishment a wise path? Their recent play has arguably been a more significant issue than their fitness.
Naturally, once they learned how the Celtics partly processed their latest defeat, NBA fans had lots of roasts about this Boston gym-to-court discrepancy and how it emulated the disappointing 2022 Phoenix Suns.
It has nothing to do with lifting and everything to do with turnovers and bad shots down the stretch of games https://t.co/F8TubvKSfU
— Genuine Hoopers (@GenuineHoopers) March 7, 2023
Oh no, we’ve turned into the Phoenix Suns 😭 https://t.co/SB8da68Vxt
— Mo Mooncey (@TheHoopGenius) March 7, 2023
Winners Work (Losers Version) https://t.co/3JBMlfr4AS
— sreekar (@sreekyshooter) March 7, 2023
gimmick infringement. https://t.co/KpZvMiZLZO pic.twitter.com/iSqHvND8By
— Jason Ounpraseuth (@JasonOun95) March 7, 2023
Tired: Players Only Meeting
Wired: Players Only Lift Session https://t.co/1r4z8nAnVR
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) March 7, 2023
Put the weights down and pick up a basketball pls https://t.co/GwN1vdUyiz
— fraser ramon (@SteveMerkle9) March 7, 2023
The Celtics after their 3rd straight losspic.twitter.com/LzacNGq6E9 https://t.co/Zw3kcrn2E5
— Justin Wills (@itsjwills) March 7, 2023
Grant should be excused. He shot those free throws like he’d just lifted. https://t.co/Inzvo5skaO
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) March 7, 2023
Harden vs the Celtics in game 7 in Boston https://t.co/1XtmG9Z6fv pic.twitter.com/6iV9o3wHtD
— Perisov (@spkrts) March 7, 2023
Celtics downfall incoming got me like pic.twitter.com/PDUfNiw8sM https://t.co/gv7RpoF7Y9
— KnickTakeJake (@KnickTake) March 7, 2023
