By Gary Washburn, Globe Staff

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Doc Rivers was seething after the Celtics' 103-88 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, threatening trades and roster changes if his .500 team does not improve following a third consecutive loss. The Celtics never led and trailed by as many as 19, losing to Detroit for the second time this season.

"I said we’ve got to find something where every night all 12 guys play the same,” Rivers said. “We did it for three games in a stretch. I told them game four and five in that (six-game winning streak) was garbage, we just won the game.

“So I gotta figure that out. I don’t think the guys are honest with each other. I just don’t think we have committed to being a good basketball team. I think this team wants everything easy. They want the easy way out. They want to win easy. I told them, the only way you’re going to win easy is you’re gonna have to play hard. The harder you play the easier the games become. We’re taking the approach.”

And then Rivers threatened to shakeup his muddling roster.

“I gotta either find the right combination, the right guys or we’re going to get some guys out of here,” he said. “It’s the bottom line, because this group right now, they’re not playing right and it’s in them to play right but right now they haven’t been because I’m not getting to them or they’re not getting to each other. Either we gotta do that or we gotta make changes. I’m saying if we don’t get it right we may (make changes). The six-game winning streak was great. Three of those games we played tremendous basketball. The other three we won the game.”