Kyrie Irving. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Celtics won eight in a row--mostly against inferior competition--but now they're riding a two-game skid, most recently Wednesday's ugly loss to the then NBA-worst Suns.
Kyrie Irving said Boston needs more consistency and better ball movement but, more than that, C's players need to care more and try harder.
"When we try, we're in the game all the time, and when we don't, we're clearly not," Irving said. "For us, as a growing team and learning from one another, we just have to continue to build that cohesion ... it's just the NBA season. You just want to have great pockets of games. You have a good, consistent run, and then you have a lapse. Now it's, build it back up, and continue to work every single day. To continue to be a really great game, it's just a work in progress every day."
Celts will host the Bucks tonight at 8. Milwaukee's an impressive 21-9 after wins in five of six.
C's won't have bigs Al Horford or Aron Baynes. Horford will miss his seventh straight with a sore knee, and Baynes is out four-to-six weeks after surgery to fix his broken hand.
Boston edged Milwaukee at the Garden last month, despite a triple-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports