National Basketball Association

Isaiah Thomas says the Boston Celtics are 'not as good as we thought'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:46 p.m. ET

Rob Perez

The Boston Celtics came into the 2016-17 NBA season as one of, if not the "biggest threat to dethrone the Cleveland Cavaliers" in the Eastern Conference.

After being on the wrong end of a 123-107 pummeling dished out by the less-than-stellar Denver Nuggets on Sunday, Celtics All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas wasn't afraid to honestly assess the Celtics' performance thus far with reporters. Via ESPN:

"We're not as good as we thought we were ... When we don't come out with a sense of urgency, we're not a good team, and that's what happened tonight."

And on coach Brad Stevens' aspirations of the Celtics being a top defense?

"At this point, we're all talk ... That's all we're doing. So until we put it together in a full 48-minute game and show what we can do at that end, we're not gonna be a top defensive team."

The Celtics are second in the Atlantic Division with a 3-3 record. Though that mark will likely improve in the near future, it's clear Thomas is treating it far from anything close to a guarantee.