The Celtics had just 17 assists Sunday against the Knicks, and they’re averaging 17.8 assists per game in their six losses this season. In comparison, the Celtics are averaging 21.8 assists during their 29 wins. The C’s have had fewer assists than their opponents in five of their six defeats.
The 1995-96 Bulls are looking more immortal by the day.
As the Celtics cruised through a franchise-record 19-game winning streak last month while looking as dominant as ever, it was hard not to wonder if they could make a run at the Bulls’ 72-victory benchmark set 13 seasons ago.
That was, of course, until reality set in.
The Celtics (29-6) tripped up against the Lakers and have lost four of six for the first time since the roster was overhauled in the summer of 2007. But the fact is hiccups like this have been fairly common for the C’s, and they’ve always responded in a fashionable way.
After last season’s 29-3 start, the Celtics dropped three of four in mid-January to begin a stretch in which they went 7-6. Just as similar as the timing of this year’s slide was the quality of the opponents, with the C’s dropping a pair to the Wizards and one to the Bobcats.
A short time later, they lost three in a row during a trip out west but came back to win a season-high 10 straight games. And the Celtics lost five of nine during one stretch in the playoffs before closing out the Pistons and beating the Lakers in the Finals in what was best described as a six-game sweep.
While the Celtics have shown signs of weakness during their current skid — lack of ball movement on offense, inability to get timely stops or keeping players out of the paint on defense and a glaring problem of inconsistent bench production — they were flawed at this point last season, as well.
These slumps are predictable, and if recent history is any indication, a resurgence by the Celtics should be on the horizon.
“We’ve just got to come together,” Pierce told reporters Sunday after the loss to the Knicks. “We talked about it after the game amongst the players, what we’re doing right, what we’re doing wrong. And the good thing about this group, we’re a strong group. It’s just about getting through this period, and we know we’re a better team than the way we’ve been playing.”
