Joe Mazzulla Suggests Celtics Becoming ‘Bored’ Amid Losing Streak

The Celtics are on a three-game losing streak heading into Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, but interim head coach Joe Mazzulla has one solution to Boston’s woes.

The C’s dropped a close game at TD Garden to the New York Knicks on Thursday night. The game was well in their grasp, but Jaylen Brown missed two pivotal free throws in overtime.

The Celtics All-Star vowed to be better, and Mazzulla sent an encouraging message to Brown, but Boston clearly has some issues it needs to fix if it wants to remain the top team in the NBA — the Celtics have a 1/2-game lead over the Denver Nuggets for best overall record and a 2 1/2-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference as of Friday.

“Being a great team is really, really hard,” Mazzulla told reporters after Thursday’s loss, per Audacy. “You have to work at it every day. You’ve gotta do the small, boring things all the time.”

The interim head coach added: “Sometimes that can be hard over a long season. You can’t get bored. You can’t get bored with the simple things.”

Boston still is one of the best teams in the league, and Mazzulla denied any notion the team’s current losing streak is a symptom of a larger problem.

But the Celtics ideally would want to head into the All-Star break with some positive signs as they prepare for the playoffs and a return to the NBA Finals.