Despite lofty preseason expectations, things haven't gone very smoothly for the Boston Celtics this season, and according to third-year forward Jaylen Brown, the environment around the team is 'toxic.'
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Heading into their matchup with the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, (10:30 p.m. ET -- Watch on FuboTV with NBA League Pass add-on), the Celtics sit at fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 38-26 overall record. If the postseason started today, they wouldn't have home-court advantage in a single series.
"To be honest, I'm not feeling good at all," Brown said about the current state of the Celtics, via CBS Boston. "The losing, it's not a good feeling. I'm not too good about that. Because right now it's not good. It's toxic. I can't really point out one thing. I don't have all the answers. I'm just going to try to be part of the change. I'm going to try to do my best. That's all I've got to say."
Brown went on to say that it's up to the entire team to turn things around if they want to avoid an early postseason exit and make the type of run they did this past postseason, despite the fact they were without the services of both Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving.
"I just try to come out and play hard and hopefully that sparks some [change]. But it's not just up to one person," Brown said. "It's up to the whole group. Everybody has to be on page. If one person's not on page, it's going to affect the whole group. I just try to come out and play hard and see where that leaves me."
Even with all of their recent struggles, Warriors All-Star forward Kevin Durant thinks that the Celtics will be fine come playoff time thanks largely in part to the talent they have on their roster.
"They're right up there at the top," Durant said when asked about the Celtics. "They've been losing a couple games, but they've got the top talent, some of the top talent on that team, so they'll be fine once the playoffs start. ... Everybody else probably thought they were supposed to be clicking and winning 65 games. Because they had the talent and they went to the Eastern Conference finals last year, Game 7, but it's a new season. There's a lot of teams that changed their rosters to play, to stack up in the East, so it's a different team. So they're still getting used to each other, getting Gordon Hayward back and Kyrie back, and another year of experience for the guys that went through the playoffs, so it's going to be throughout the season."
The Celtics are certainly hoping that Durant is right, but they've given the rest of us little reason to believe that he is.
