Brad Stevens was not happy with the Boston Celtics' defensive performance in their blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Eastern Conference high flyers the Raptors took a commanding lead before half-time and cruised to an easy 118-95 NBA win over the Celtics in Toronto.
Celtics head coach Stevens addressed his team's poor play with reporters after Boston dropped to 37-24 on Tuesday.
"Same old, same old," Stevens said. "I thought we were all over the place defensively tonight. … We're taking too many shortcuts [defensively]."
Final pic.twitter.com/4Z5xL3EkKn
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 27, 2019
The Celtics allowed Toronto to shoot 48.9 per cent from the field and 47.2 per cent from three-point range. They are now on a three-game losing streak and have dropped five of their last seven.
"We have to be a lot more connected as a team," Stevens said. "That's been a theme for a while."
Celtics star Kyrie Irving, however, might not see it that way.
"I don't know," Irving said when asked how to fix the team's defense. "It's up to Brad [Stevens]."
Irving had just seven points on three-of-10 shooting from the field. He hit one of his three three-point attempts.
The Celtics will host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.