Kristaps Porzingis Offers Harsh Criticism Following ‘Terrible’ Loss To Pistons

The Boston Celtics weren’t themselves Wednesday night and Kristaps Porzingis isn’t making any excuses.

Boston was on a roll, winners of its last six games straight and 10 of its last 11. Shorthanded without Jaylen Brown and Luke Kornet, the Celtics faced the red-hot Detroit Pistons, who’d been on a seven-game winning streak of their own. However, with subpar defense and offensive miscues overruling Boston’s destiny, the Celtics were doomed en route to a 117-97 defeat at Little Caesars Arena.

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There wasn’t any single target for locker room finger-pointing following the loss, but Porzingis had no problem accepting his share of the blame.

“I was terrible tonight, and we just had a really bad game,” Kristaps Porzingis told reporters postgame, as seen on NBC Sports Boston. “We fought, but they were physical and good for them. It was a really important game, they wanted to win it and we battled as strong as we could but we just fell short. They were hitting big shots after big shots and we didn’t rebound the ball well, especially myself so I definitely have to take some accountability and be better.”

Porzingis scored his second-fewest points this season, finishing with 11 on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. The 7-footer also grabbed just two rebounds, tied for the fewest of any Celtics starter — with Jrue Holiday — and committed two turnovers to end the night with a game-worst minus-24 rating. Things got so bad that Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla pulled all starters from the floor for the final 4:40 of regulation and waived the surrender flag, giving JD Davison, Xavier Tillman, Drew Peterson, Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman some garbage-time minutes.

“I was emotional and I was riled up about not getting some calls that we usually get,” Porzingis said. “It just was not a good night for us, honestly and that’s it. We’ve been here before and we look forward to the next one.”

Even without Brown, Jayson Tatum’s right-hand man, or Kornet, the team’s go-to backup center, crashing and burning in the second half was inexcusable. The Celtics last season were the best of the best because of their ability to adapt on the fly whenever the roster wasn’t at full strength. Depth this go-around, hasn’t been on their side.

Payton Pritchard, the league’s leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate, was the only reliable source of offense outside of Tatum and Derrick White. Pritchard scored 18 points while Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta, Tillman, Peterson, Walsh and Scheierman combined to score 10 points. The amount of back-breaking work tasking the starters with when an undersized guard is the only reserve capable of generating offense will prove costly against any team.

“We just weren’t connected in our defense protecting the rim, and they took advantage of that really with their defense,” Mazzulla said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston.

The Celtics scored 20 points in the paint to Detroit’s 62, committed 19 turnovers to Detroit’s 12 and generated 27 bench points to Detroit’s 51. Those margins, which Mazzulla adamantly emphasizes each season, spoke volumes. They revealed that the back end of Boston’s bench, occupied by Queta, Tillman and Walsh, needs to bring something to the table other than fresh legs.

Al Horford isn’t getting younger (he’s 38 years old) and Porzingis is entitled to an off-night, meaning Mazzulla needs a part-timer to light a fire when the occasion presents itself. Rotations obviously shrink in the playoffs but health isn’t a guarantee.

Boston can’t afford to have multiple treadmill joggers running up and down the court, even if it’s just the regular season. Depth can make or break any team, and that includes a championship defender like the Celtics.