An absolute nightmare scenario. The Boston Celtics just lost to the Houston Rockets, who now have an absolutely atrocious 16-52 record on the season. Poor rebounding, forcing threes, missing free throws, lazy defense... a complete disaster. The only player who actually wanted to win was Jaylen Brown, who had 43 points on 64% shooting.
The Celtics, who started the season 21-5, are now 22-17 since. A team that once held the first seed in the NBA is now tied with the 76ers in the loss column, and now has to fight just to maintain the 2nd seed.
It seems like the Bucks are now going to run away with the first seed, and if the bad habits on display against the Rockets don't get fixed before the playoffs, the finals expectations placed on the Celtics at the beginning of the season will begin to look more and more fraudulent.