Boston Celtics: It’s time to change the lineup again

After the most disappointing loss of the Boston Celtics’ season build a three-game losing streak, the question now is: what do they do to fix it?

The visitor’s locker room in Scotiabank Arena was quieter than usual. The Boston Celtics didn’t feel much like talking after a 118-95 blowout loss at the hands of the Toronto Raptors. Marcus Smart told ESPN they just aren’t playing together right now, which was pretty much the only answer to be found in the locker room.

Point guard Kyrie Irving certainly didn’t want to talk about the game, which is understandable. Irving has been asked to talk after every game like this, and he’s surely tired of it. His longer answers have turned into soundbites to fuel a free agency fire, so it’s not especially shocking Kyrie doesn’t want to talk anymore.

That’s not to let him off the hook entirely. Kyrie has clearly struggled with adapting into a leadership role this season. He’s taking the route of throwing every leadership style at the wall and seeing what sticks.

First, he called out the young guys. Next, he said he called LeBron James. While it must be difficult to operate under the microscope the Celtics have been under this season, maybe the best thing at this point is to keep everything in house.

The moment when Kyrie called LeBron felt like one of the season’s high points. Coming after a 118-107 win at home against the Raptors, he was all smiles explaining how much he learned about leadership. Now, it feels like he’s hurting under its burden.

Let’s get something straight though: As much as Kyrie battles the burdens of leadership, he is not the problem with the Celtics. He’s playing the best basketball of his career on both ends of the floor, and asserting himself as a playmaker as well as a scorer. It’s a shame, really, that the story revolves around his pending free agency and not his outstanding play.

Boston’s problems are bigger than Kyrie Irving. The Celtics have lineup issues, and the focus now turns to how head coach Brad Stevens will fix them.

No point in the season has felt as low as Tuesday night felt, but the morning after falling to a 10-10 record early in the year comes close. The struggles the Celtics fought at that point of the season revolved much around the early woes of Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward. In their place, Stevens injected Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart — two players who, at the start of the year, were poster children for the “Bench With Attitude” — into the starting lineup.

It worked really well for awhile. From Thanksgiving to Jan. 1, Morris was shooting 43.5 percent from deep, and Smart was playing the best basketball of his career. Through January, Smart was firing from the 3-point line at a 42.9 percent clip. But in the month of February, water found its level.

In February, Morris is converting on just 30.6 percent of his deep attempts, while attempting 5.4 per night. The numbers are similar to Russell Westbrook‘s historically awful 27 percent 3-point clip while attempting 5.0 such shots per night. In other words, Mook is chucking.

Likewise, Smart has seen his 3-point shooting regress to the mean, as he’s converting on only 32.7 percent of his attempts while taking 5.2 such shots per game. Morris and Smart found ethereal hot streaks where they played miles above their heads. Those will happen from time to time, but not often enough for their starting roles to continue.

Brad Stevens remarked on the difficulty of starting Smart being that you can’t bring his energy off the bench. That’s an issue that has finally reared its ugly head, as the second unit has taken the floor with a certain lethargy and lack of discipline that only Smart and his combat muscles and grit can provide.

Look no further than Tuesday night in Toronto. The Celtics possessed a 34-30 lead early in the second quarter when Terry Rozier and the second unit took the floor. In the bat of an eyelash, the Raptors had gone on an 18-0 run and taken a 48-34 lead.

While it’s not fair to single out Rozier as much as he’s been blamed, it’s really no wonder why it’s happening. The Celtics have been outscored by 41 points in their last two second quarters, in large part because of punishing shot selection from the former Louisville Cardinal.

Often this season, Scary Terry has resorted to dribbling the air out of the ball en route to a curl 3 just a few seconds into the shot clock, or a step back 18-footer that clanks off the back iron. He also has found his defense slipping, as he’s been prone to miss reads and switches on that end of the floor.

In addition to Rozier’s defensive struggles, Jaylen Brown has continued to show a lack of defensive awareness. Against Toronto, Brown failed to make appropriate switches that would lead to Norman Powell being open for 3s, which he converted.

Simply put, Rozier and Brown cannot be on the floor at the same time from a defensive standpoint. Brown has seen a return to form in 2019, as he’s posting .474/.374/.708 shooting splits since the start of the year. It’s time to return him to the starting lineup and allow Smart to hold down the second unit.

Like Brown, Gordon Hayward has shown signs of turning the corner. His athleticism has shown signs of returning, and he’s had a more aggressive approach on offense. It’s also reflected in his shooting, as he’s posting .519/.444/.923 splits in February. Compare that to Morris’ .440/.306/.750 and it’s pretty clear who should be getting the lion’s share of minutes at this point.

The Celtics remain primed for postseason success. The goal is no longer finishing the regular season with home-court advantage through the playoffs, and it really never was. If Boston wants to make a a trip to the NBA Finals, it was always going to have to steal a few wins on the road.

Boston won’t have much time to reflect on its loss in Toronto, as Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers await them at TD Garden Wednesday night. It’s time for Brad Stevens to change the lineup again. It’s time to turn the clock back to opening night, and put the Kyrie-Brown-Hayward-Jayson Tatum–Al Horford lineup into motion.

Likewise, the bench needs attitude. Let Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris give it to them.