Grant Williams: Celtics Have to Ask Ourselves 'What the F--k Is Going On?'

The Boston Celtics look like they've given up on one another. That was apparent during Sunday night's Game 3 blowout loss to the Miami Heat, which put them within one game of being eliminated from the 2023 NBA playoffs.

While head coach Joe Mazzulla foisted the blame on himself for the team's dreadful performance in the Eastern Conference Finals, forward Grant Williams said it's time to look inward.

"There's nothing he can say to us. There's nothing he can do to help a team compete, to help a team play hard," Williams said, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. "As much as you can claim that it can be the head coach, but we got to look at ourselves eye-to-eye and say, 'What the f--k is going on?' Because as players, like, we've been here before, we've done this year over year. And to look at ourselves and not see that same edge is something I've never experienced. It looked like we laid down tonight and as a player, that s--t is unacceptable and frustrating."

Williams took his own fair share of criticism after antagonizing Jimmy Butler before the Celtics blew a fourth-quarter lead at home in Game 2. Butler said after the game his back-and-forth with Williams motivated him as he willed Miami back from being down as many as 12 points.

Williams said this Celtics team lacks the "grit" of last year's squad, which advanced to the NBA Finals before losing to the Golden State Warriors.

"Last year, the one thing I do remember is that if our offense stagnated and we couldn't score, guess what, the other team wasn't scoring too," Williams said. "We had a certain level of grit and a certain level of edge and a certain level of just the mindset and togetherness that we haven't played with this year."

The Celtics will get one more chance to show some fortitude Tuesday night in Miami. If they don't, there could be sweeping changes to this roster coming this summer.