Celtics' Marcus Smart Frustrated With Star Teammates After Loss To Bulls
The Celtics squandered a 94-75 lead in the third quarter to lose to the Bulls 128-114 on Monday night.
Boston suffered its third consecutive loss, dropping to 2-5 on the season. Guard Marcus Smart was frustrated after the game and called out the stars of the team for not playing team basketball.
"Every team knows we're trying to go to Jayson and Jaylen," Smart said. "Every team is programmed and studied to stop Jayson and Jaylen. I think everybody's scouting report is to make those guys pass the ball. They don't want to pass the ball."
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown controlled much of the offense in the fourth quarter but did not have success. The two combined to go 1-of-10 in the fourth quarter. Boston scored just 11 points in the final quarter, while Chicago put up 39.
Both Tatum and Brown have been dynamic scorers for Boston but have struggled to pass the rock and find open teammates. Tatum is averaging 3.7 APG on the season while Brown is averaging 2.5 APG. All while having the ball majority of the time, which Smart said needs to change.
"That's something that they're going to learn," Smart said. "They're still learning. We're proud of the progress they're making, but they're going to have to make another step and find ways to not only create for themselves but create for others on this team to open up the court for them later down in the game.
"... It's something we've been asking them to do, and they're learning. We just gotta continue to help those guys do that to help our team."