Charles Barkley Blasts Celtics Players After Dual Losses

Charles Barkley issued a stern rebuke to the Celtics during the team's 118–109 defeat to the Knicks at TD Garden on Thursday night. In particular, Barkley called out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for “half-assing” their performances in the first part of the game. It’s Barkley’s second hot take of the week, after he blasted the “idiots” staring at the eclipse on Monday.

Appearing on NBA on TNT (via The New York Post), Barkley’s mood seemed to turn after Tatum and Brown both failed to block Knicks guard OG Anunoby from extending his team’s lead just before halftime.

“Shaq asked me earlier if Tatum and Brown should play. If they’re going to play like that, they shouldn’t play,” Barkley told Ernie Johnson.

Barkley then invoked the Celtics’ Tuesday game against the Milwaukee Bucks, which saw the latter team prevail 104–91. “If you’re going to go out there and half-ass it like they did in Milwaukee the other night, when they didn’t shoot a free throw. They went an entire game without shooting a free throw,” Barkley marveled.

“And then when they come out tonight and they’re just kind of going through the motions,” the Hall of Famer continued. “I know they’re going to finish with the best record, but, man, you can’t turn it off and turn it on again.”

After the game, Brown was frank in accepting the team’s recent shortcomings, but he expressed hope that they would rebound in the near future.

“We got out-toughed the last two games and haven’t played to our standard,” Brown admitted. “The game has shifted and it’s going to shift even more in the playoffs.”

The Celtics will have a chance to redeem themselves tonight when they face the Charlotte Hornets at TD.