Celtics player grades: Another serving of Boston blame pie as Cs collapse vs. Chicago Bulls

The Boston Celtics collapsed in epic fashion on Monday evening, and this time around it wasn’t just the fans and analysts voicing their opinion on what went wrong on a more individual level — for better or worse, veteran point guard Marcus Smart got in on the action as well.

And while he may not have been on point about what caused said collapse in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls at home after riding a 19-point lead to dust in the third quarter, the Flower Mound native did point out some issues that have indeed plagued the team consistently this season.

Our purpose here however is not to apportion responsibility for season-long trends but instead a more granular analysis of individual players in a single game, so with that said, let’s hand out some grades for Boston’s loss to the Bulls at TD Garden on Nov. 1.

Dennis Schroder - 13 points, 5 assists

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

We understand the dynamic at play with Schroder trying to rebuild his value with a prove-it deal in Boston, so at least early on a 3-of-10 shooting night will still warrant him getting north of 20 minutes of floor time.

And there’s probably value to be had in consistency for players you can lean on defensively with a slashing game that can help Boston in the long run, but this was not his best game with the team.

Grade: C

Josh Richardson - 7 points

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

While he was mostly solid on defense, he was a non-factor offensively and ate up 25 minutes of time off the bench that at least some of which honestly would have been better used on a more capable shooter.

Again, we understand the way new coach Ime Udoka is trying to run his rotations, but we are becoming more skeptical by the day he has the right players on the roster to place such faith in, at least to these kinds of minute ranges so early in the season.

Grade: D+

Robert Williams III - 6 points, 5 rebounds

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We won’t go too hard on Williams given he nearly left the game after an injury sent him to the locker room mid-game, but it was a noticeably flat performance for Timelord even before he got hurt.

With Boston relatively thin for competent help in the frontcourt able to stay on the court for long stretches, the Celtics need more from Williams on a night-to-night basis.

Grade: C-

Marcus Smart - 16 points, 4 steals

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Smart was not wrong about the team needing a more diverse and mobile offense in his post-game comments, even if it wasn’t a lack of passing per se that was the reason Boston lost the contest Monday.

Still, despite the noticeable lack of assists, it was a solid all-around game otherwise for Smart on both ends, save a few late boo-boos.

Grade: B-

Al Horford - 20 points, 10 rebounds

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It was almost comical to hear Horford take blame for Boston’s loss postgame given he had one of the best nights of any Celtics on the court vs. Chicago, but he admirably led the team by taking responsibility personally.

It’s not too reasonable to have expected much more out of Al, though, who continues to defy his age with consistent quality games for Boston.

Grade: B+

Jaylen Brown - 28 points, 7 rebounds

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

We won’t blame the collapse on Brown too much given he hardly had a chance to be part of the solution with just two shots in the fourth quarter and the earlier lead they’d squandered in the first place was mostly his handiwork to begin with.

But at some point the team needs to run more plays to get Brown going in the fourth quarter given he has been the team’s best player for most of the season to date.

Grade: B+

Jayson Tatum - 20 points

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Tatum wasn’t entirely bad this game, but his 8-of-22 shooting (and 1-of-4 rate of success from deep) certainly were a major factor in Boston losing this game, as was his late-game jump shooting and defense.

We expect the Duke product to shoot better than 27.1% from 3 once he’s settled into his game and the team’s new offense, but to be the sort of player he aspires to requires empowering teammates to be better first — especially when one’s own game is struggling.

Grade: D

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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