Who's to blame for this Celtics season?

The Boston Celtics lost again on Tuesday night, this time an embarrassing shellacking at the hands of a (very good) Toronto Raptors team. It was one of those losses that had the Celtics players walking around by the fourth quarter looking dazed - you could almost see the thought bubbles floating above their heads with the words: What the hell is going on this year?

The Celtics are a perfectly respectable 37-24 and should comfortably make the playoffs, even though they're currently sitting in the fifth seed. For a team that was slated win a ton of games, however (their over/under was 59 wins at most sports books), this can't be how they imagined this season going.

So let's figure out why!

Here we will assign blame for this disappointing season, based on very scientific numbers we just made up.

Kyrie Irving 17%

Kyrie Irving missed out on the end of last season for the Celtics due to injury, and his return was meant to give the Celtics that needed scorer who could close out games, plus provide more veteran leadership for a team that was very young.

Irving has at times been that proven scorer and veteran leader. Emphasis on at times. He's also dangled the thought of leaving Boston to join the New York Knicks once he becomes a free agent, called out teammates multiple times, and been inconsistent on the floor. The Celtics needed Irving to step up and help bring together a team with a lot of talent (one could argue too much talent). He hasn't done that.

Danny Ainge 8%

It's hard to fault Ainge too much for what's happened this year. His job is to assemble talent and he's done that. Though there were a few things Ainge could have done before the season to head off some of the Celtics' issues at the pass. Terry Rozier, for example, was obviously going to want playing time after his breakout season last year. Same for Semi Ojeleye, another promising young player who's seen his playing time slashed this year. There wasn't enough playing time to go around.

Ainge could have seen that coming and tried to deal some of these guys, but he viewed them as assets, and figured his head coach Brad Stevens could figure out the minutes thing. That was never going to work. You can't have young guys be big parts of a playoff push and then shelve them and expect them to be happy. Speaking of which:

Too Many Young Guys Getting a Taste Last Year 40%

This is the big one. This was always going to be the issue with the Celtics this year, and while everyone thought coming in to the season that Stevens would be able to handle it, I'm not sure it was ever going to be handled.

The re-introduction of Gordon Hayward or Irving alone might have been enough for this Celtics team to handle, but both at the same time has proven to be too much for a young team that made a deep playoff push. There just aren't enough shots to go around. Jayson Tatum went from being the team's primary scorer to someone who's trying to get shots off when he can. Jaylen Brown is in a funk, as is Terry Rozier. Marcus Smart, Rozier, Brown, Ojeleye have all seen minutes go down this year, as well as shots.

This was always going to be a problem. That crew rightfully will feel that they earned the right to be leaders for this franchise. Rozier, Brown, Tatum and Ojeleye are all playing for that next big contract. Telling them to defer to Irving and a getting-back-to-full-strength Hayward is a near impossible ask.

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Gordon Hayward Struggling to Return from Injury 5%

Hayward was a legitimate star in Utah, but after suffering a horrifying broken leg last year, and working this year to figure out how to fit into this Celtics lineup, it's not surprising that it's taken some time. He's looked sharper as of late, and producing well enough, but that integration took time.

Jaylen Brown's Odd Slump 5%

In his second season last year Brown looked like he was ready to make the leap to the next level. A fearsome defender who was developing an outside shot, Brown looked like the future of the Celtics franchise, along with Jayson Tatum.

This year … not so much. He's shooting 32% from deep, after shooting just shy of 40% from 3 last season. We expect a takeoff. We got a regression.

Brad Stevens 5%

I personally think Stevens was given a near impossible task this season, asked to balance a minutes load for a bloated roster with too many players expecting to play. I suppose he could have handled some of it better, and more clearly defined roles, but I don't know.

The East Improving 20%

This is an underrated part of why the Celtics are struggling this year: The East just flat out got better. Yes, the top of the conference is stacked, with really good Bucks, Raptors, Pacers and Sixers teams, but the rest of the conference has filled out with talent as well.

The Pistons and Hornets aren't easy wins, the Magic look frisky and present matchup problems, and the Heat have enough talent to push teams most nights. The Celtics should be winning games, but this isn't the same Eastern Conference they stormed through the last two years. The conference is getting better, and they're suffering as a result.