"The streak was wearing on us when it was three games," he said, "so of course it's wearing on us now at 12."
But Jefferson, who led the team with 15 points and 17 rebounds, could not answer the question that stumped everyone in the visitors' locker room:
If the Celtics are so sick and tired of losing, so angry about the prospect of setting a franchise record for futility, then how could they fall behind by 20 points in the second half and not realize the urgency of their situation until the very end of the fourth quarter?
Anyone? Anyone?
The Celtics could not come up with a satisfactory answer, just as they could not come up with a satisfactory ending to the game, despite outscoring the Pacers, 40-27, in the fourth.
The Celtics started the final quarter trailing, 76-56, and all hope of a victory seemed lost. But they have made a habit of staging dramatic late-game comebacks during this streak. Again they chipped away, getting the deficit to single digits (93-84) when Gerald Green scored on a layup with 1:29 remaining.
Green hit another big shot -- a 3-pointer with 26.2 seconds left -- at which point he turned to the Boston bench and shouted, "We're back in this [expletive]!"
Technically, Green was right. But the Celtics (12-32) simply did not have enough time. Indiana made its free throws in the closing seconds, while Sebastian Telfair forced a 3-point attempt in an effort to keep pace. In a game in which the Celtics committed 22 turnovers (for 19 points), it was only fitting that their final possession ended when Jamaal Tinsley stole the ball from Green.
"We let it go, and all of a sudden we turn it back on at the wrong time and it's too late," said Green, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth. "We need to turn it on and leave it on for the rest of the season."
Clearly, it is not enough to turn it on in the first and fourth quarters and turn it off in the second and third. That is essentially what happened last night, as the Celtics scored just 13 points in the second and 13 points in the third.
