Marcus Morris Rips Celtics, Says They Haven't Had Fun in a 'Long Time'

The Boston Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 123-112 at home Saturday after they held a 28-point lead in the second quarter.

C's forward Marcus Morris vented in his postgame talk with reporters:

"It hasn't been fun for a long time. I watch all these other teams around the league and guys are up on the bench ... they're enjoying everything, and they're playing together and they're playing to win. And when I look at us I just see a bunch of individuals.

"We're going to lose games, but we don't have no attitude, we don't have no toughness, we ain't having fun. It's been a long season."

All is not lost for the 35-21 Celtics, who are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

But the C's dropped a buzzer-beating heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday before Saturday's defeat. All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving also suffered a knee injury and was forced to leave the game. Head coach Brad Stevens told reporters tests will be done Sunday.

Naturally, tensions might be a bit high in Boston, and Morris further elaborated on his comments, per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston:

"For us to be a championship team, man, this s--t has to change, man. We have to genuinely want to win, that has to be the first goal, whatever that change is, I'm with it. ... Trade deadline is over, this is the team we rocking with, this is what we going with. ...

"For me it's not really about the loss. It's about the attitudes that we're playing with. Guys are hanging their heads. It's just not fun. It's not fun. We're not competing at a high level. Even though we're winning, it's not fun. I don't see the joy in the game."

Morris isn't the only Boston veteran to challenge teammates to do better. Irving did the same after a loss to the Orlando Magic in mid-January, for example, while also mentioning that he could do better himself as a leader.

Two takeaways stand out.

The glass-half-full side is that the C's have 26 more regular-season games to get things right. They also wouldn't be the first team to experience in-season adversity before rolling onto a championship (the 1994-95 Rockets somehow weathered lengthy injuries to their best players before they won the title as a No. 6 seed, for example).

The glass-half-empty side is that this might be who the C's are: an inconsistent team capable of losing to the 11-46 Phoenix Suns at home. They are also just 13-13 on the road.

We'll see which direction the C's head in, but they won't get a break in their next game with a Tuesday road matchup versus the Philadelphia 76ers.