How bad was Celtics’ loss to Detroit? Scal, Perk and Mannix weigh in originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Running the table was never realistic for the Boston Celtics, no matter how great they looked on a nine-game winning streak.
Still, it stings a little bit extra that the run came to an end against the Detroit Pistons, who entered the night at the TD Garden with the second-worst record in the NBA at 12-45.
Just how bad of a loss is that for the Celtics, who were without both Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III but had seemingly turned the corner on playing down to their competition?
Forsberg: Elite defense gives Celtics a real chance to contend
Opinions seemed to differ on Postgame Live on NBC Sports Boston, where Brian Scalabrine, Kendrick Perkins and Brian Scalabrine all had varying levels of concern.
“This is the NBA, with two guys out, this was a very difficult game to win for the Celtics once you saw the physicality the Pistons were playing with,” Scalabrine said.
Mannix wasn’t buying it.
“It’s like I’m in the twilight zone here,” he said. “You guys are letting the Celtics off the hook. The Kelly Olynyk revenge game? I think he had zero points on Monday. The Celtics got absolutely clobbered on the glass — that’s effort.”
Olynyk, who spent the first four seasons of his career in Boston, did in fact have zero points in 13 minutes for the Pistons in their last game, a 103-94 setback against the Washington Wizards that was their eighth straight loss.
Naturally, Olynyk had 15 points and six rebounds for Detroit on Wednesday, which outrebounded the Celtics 47-30 — including a staggering 18-2 margin on the offensive glass.
Boston, which enters the All-Star break at 34-26, will now have eight days to stew on the defeat before it returns to action against the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 24.