Porzingis calls out Celtics after ugly loss to Raptors

It appears the Celtics have not yet figured it out, as Joe Mazzulla said they would after Sunday's narrow 120-119 win over the Pelicans. Their trip to Toronto to play the lowly 10-31 Raptors was supposed to be the beginning of a winnable three-game stretch for the C's, that they could use to get back on the right track. Instead, the result was quite the opposite, they fell to the Raptors 110-97, continuing a concerning 14-game stint where they are 7-7, with multiple losses to inferior teams. And Kristaps Porziņģis wasn't afraid to call out the team's effort from a mental standpoint. "I think we played with no spirit, with no personality, and it's just a weak performance from us, honestly," Porziņģis said after the game. The last month for the Celtics has been one of the most disappointing stretches they've had in the last two years. More than simply just being 7-7 over that time, the team finds themselves consistently losing to lesser opponents and having many of their key players underperforming. The Raptors loss is no different. Not to mention, this is the same Raptors team the C's dominated just two weeks ago in a 125-71 victory on New Year's Eve. "[In Toronto] we played some bad basketball," said Porzingis about the loss. "As a team, we're still not clicking the way we need to, but in my opinion, it's a matter of time. We're not playing the best basketball. We're not executing, we're not doing this. [There are] a lot of things that we're not doing well." Toronto Raptors forward Chris Boucher (25) drives against Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7) and center Kristaps Porzingis (8). However, he expressed that he, nor the rest of the team, is worried about the downturn. "We are not [panicking]. We are not, but we are in a bad moment right now, for sure, we have to be realistic, look in the mirror." Joe Mazzulla's three-point-centric philosophy has been heavily scrutinized all season, and Wednesday's loss certainly will not help quiet those critiques. The Celtics shot at 39.6% field goal efficiency (36-for-91), compared to the Raptors, who shot at 50.6% on nearly the same amount of shots (45-for-89). This was not helped by the fact that more than half of the C's total shots were from beyond the arc, and despite hitting five more three-pointers, and hitting at a slightly higher rate than Toronto, they also attempted 12 more threes than their opponents - drives that potentially could have been better suited for a two. Speaking of two-point shots, the Celtics were 20-for-45 in that category (44.4%). So, had the Celtics elected to go for a two-pointer on those aforementioned 12 drives rather than the three, at the same efficiency they had been hitting twos, the Celtics could have potentially scored an additional 10.7 points, making their deficit a manageable two or three. Obviously, this is very much a statistical hypothetical, but it goes to show how the three-point shot could be hurting the Celtics' chances when they are not hitting. Despite the slow stretch for the C's, Porzingis is still confident in his team's ability to turn it around. "What gives me confidence [is] just knowing who these guys are," Porzingis said. "We have high personality, high character people. Nobody's pointing fingers and stuff. We know we'll get past this. I know it, we know it. But we have to start." Fortunately for Boston, the Celtics play another middling team, the Magic, on Friday. Granted, they are better than the Raptors team the C's just lost to, so this is another opportunity for the team to show that this is just a mental funk, not indicative of the team at large. At the position they have put them in, sooner-or-later, continued losing, particularly to lesser opponents, will lose to panic among the fan base, so this has to be turned around as-soon-as possible.