The team has been in a bit of a funk after a brutal January schedule. The homestand started with a blowout at the hands of the Clippers, followed by a come-from-behind victory against the Pelicans, a gut check win over the Pacers, and a deflating loss to the Lakers without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
And while Joe Mazzulla and the players to a man have all said some version of “everybody has a bad day at work” to “this happens in an 82-game season,” it’s hard not to think how Marcus Smart would be dealing with this slump if he was still in green.