The Boston Celtics are not in a good way right now, having lost each of their first three games of the season as they head into Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans (0-2).

It’s an opportunity for a get-right game. There’s no doubt about it. But the troubling part of what the Celtics are dealing with in the early going this season is that they haven’t looked particularly bad in each of these three losses. In all three games, Boston held a lead past the first few minutes, yet was not able to maintain as comebacks ensued.

With how much roster turnover this team faced this offseason, it’s clear they’re still working through some things. But at a certain point, you are what you are.

And if the team starts 0-4, well…we might just be in store for our first rough season of Celtics basketball since the 2014-15 season (a year they still managed a playoff berth, for what it’s worth).

How to Watch Celtics vs. Pelicans

Boston Celtics at New Orleans Pelicans Information

Game Date: October 27, 2025
Game Time: 08:00 PM ET
TV Channel: NBC Sports Boston (Boston) & Gulf Coast Sports Network (New Orleans)
Radio: 105.7 WROR-FM (Boston) & WWL 870 AM (New Orleans)
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
Live Stream: Fubo & NBA League Pass

Missed what happened last game? Here’s what my colleague Scott Solomon wrote for Roundtable:

Less than one week into the new NBA season, it might be time to hit the panic button in Boston as the Celtics lost their third consecutive game to start the campaign.

Despite a 41-point effort from Jaylen Brown Sunday afternoon, the Celtics lost to the Detroit Pistons 119-113. The Celtics could not count on Derrick White for very much offensive contribution. He added 15 points, most of it in the game's waning minutes. He would go 0-4 from 3-point range in the first half and would finish 3-for-11 for the game shooting.

Hugo Gonzalez made his first start for Boston and played 18 minutes. He would score zero points and have zero assists. He did have one rebound for the Celtics. The start for Gonzalez came after he earned style points for his action Friday night off the bench.

After Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points, Jalen Duren added 24 for Detroit in the win. Duren killed the Celtics on the glass as he collected 17 rebounds.

The Celtics came out of the gate hot and ran up a 12-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game. They would lead 33-24 after the first quarter.

Then the bottom fell out. Boston would get outscored 36-25 in the second quarter and have an equally disastrous third quarter, just like they did Friday night against the New York Knicks. Boston found themselves leading by 17 points in the first half, to trailing by two at the break, 60-58.

Boston would then progressively lose the lead as for the second game in a row, they could not garner an offensive rebound when they needed one. They had 12 offensive rebounds, compared to 18 for the Pistons, who improve to 2-1 on the season. The Pistons have won two straight after losing the season-opener against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. 

Rebounding was a big problem for the second consecutive game. Peyton Pritchard was the only Celtics player to grab double-digit rebounds.

The Pistons had 30 second chance points, as opposed to Boston, who only had 19. This statistic translates to the fact that the Pistons were more aggressive on the offensive boards.

One of the differences in the game was occurred at the free throw line. The Pistons scored 14 more points from the line and had 36 attempts. The Celtics, on the other hand, went to the line 24 times and converted 18 shots.

Boston would chip away at the Pistons lead which would go to as high as 15, but the rally came up short at the end. The Celtics would cut the lead to four with 1:13 left when Brown made two free throws. However, Tobias Harris of the Pistons would score off of an offensive rebound on the other end to put the game out of reach.

The Celtics will continue to look for the first win on Monday when they travel to face the New Orleans Pelicans.

Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.