For much of the 2022-23 season, it looked like the Boston Celtics were playing on cruise control, having sat atop the Eastern Conference standings for a considerable stretch. However, over the past few weeks, it seems like the cracks in the Celtics' foundation are beginning to show. And their performance on Monday night against the Houston Rockets will do nothing to assuage their loyal fanbase's growing concerns.

The Rockets entered the contest having won just 15 of their 67 games thus far, putting them on pace to finish with the worst record in the NBA for the third season in a row. To make matters worse, the Rockets faced the Celtics without arguably their best player in Alperen Sengun due to a groin injury. Thus, as flimsy as the Celtics have been when facing teams above .500 in recent games, the odds were certainly in their favor on Monday.

However, the Rockets played their hearts out, even leading the way for much of the contest. The Celtics ended up losing, 111-109, creating an atmosphere of unease on Twitter for the fanbase of a team that's supposed to be taking care of games like these with conviction.

As infuriating as it may be to lose to a team with a .224 winning percentage entering the night, it's a testament to the Celtics' unwillingness to just roll over that they had a chance to, at the very least, send the game to overtime in the end after Jabari Smith Jr. left the door open with a missed free-throw.

However, Jayson Tatum blew a golden opportunity by smoking what should be an easy layup for him right at the rim, much to the chagrin of Celtics fans. Some fans thought that going with Jaylen Brown was the better idea, and it's hard to blame them for thinking that, since Brown finished with 43 points on the night.

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While the Celtics' fans frustrations are understandable, it's certainly better to get these kinds of awful losses out of the way before the postseason begins. They have a little over a month left to iron the kinks before the postseason begins and the games truly start to matter.