Wednesday night’s Celtics loss in Detroit featured one of the shakiest performances of the season from Kristaps Porzingis.
Porzingis, who missed the previous night’s win in Toronto with an illness, managed just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting and two rebounds in Boston’s 117-97 defeat at Little Caesars Arena. The Celtics were outscored by 24 points with their starting center on the floor — no other teammate was lower than minus-14 — and allowed 62 points in the paint while scoring just 20.
Porzingis did not sugarcoat his performance when speaking with reporters postgame.
“We just had a bad game, to be honest, and me especially. I was terrible tonight,” he told reporters. “We just had a really bad game. We fought, we fought. But they were really physical, and good for them. It was a really important game, they really wanted to win it, and we battled as strong as we could, but we just fell short. They were hitting big shots after big shots, and we didn’t rebound the ball well, especially myself. So I definitely have to take some accountability and be better.”
The ugly outing ended a streak of 19 consecutive games with at least 15 points for Porzingis, who has been one of the Celtics’ most consistent performers since returning from the ankle injury he suffered on Christmas Day. It also was the first time since last January that Porzingis played at least 20 minutes and grabbed fewer than three rebounds.
Porzingis did not record a block in the loss — he had at least one in each of his previous eight games and two-plus in six of those — and the Celtics blocked just one shot as a team, their lowest total of the season. Detroit totaled five blocks and 13 steals while nearly erasing Boston’s offense inside the 3-point arc.
The Celtics’ 12 2-point makes were their fewest in a single game in franchise history, and they failed to reach 100 points despite going 21-for-49 from deep. They’re 47-4 during Joe Mazzulla’s head-coaching tenure when they make at least 20 threes, with the other three losses coming by one, two and four points.
Playing without Jaylen Brown (thigh contusion) and Luke Kornet (personal reasons) also hurt the Celtics’ effectiveness inside.
The Celtics, who had won six straight entering Wednesday, all by double digits, will look to bounce back Friday night when they host the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. That game kicks off a season-long seven-game homestand that also features matchups against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets (this Sunday); LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers (March 8); and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (March 12).
Those teams all rank in the top eight in the NBA’s overall standings and entered Thursday with a combined record of 34-6 in their last 10 games. The 42-17 Celtics own the NBA’s third-best record and rank second in the East, 6 1/2 games back of Cleveland.
“We have to hunt again,” Porzingis told reporters. “We want to win another championship, and we have to be hunting again. But the season is long. We’re working toward something. We want to peak at the right moment. We don’t want to overreact to a loss. But every loss we can learn something and take something from, and tonight will be no different.”