Celtics crushed by Clippers in ugliest loss of season
On Thursday night, the Celtics sent another warning to the NBA with one of their best nights of a season. Jayson Tatum was named an All-Star starter again as the C’s produced a record-breaking offensive performance in a rout of the Heat. The vibes were high as they left Miami to come home for a long homestand.
Two nights later, Tatum had to resort to sitting the entire fourth quarter at the end of the bench with a towel draped over his back. It was not for a good reason.
The Celtics followed up arguably their best performance of the season with their worst. For the first time this season, the C’s looked completely inept. They looked lost in a brutal 115-96 loss to the Clippers at TD Garden that wasn’t even that close.
Jayson Tatum scored 21 points to lead the Celtics, who put up enough bricks to build a few new buildings in downtown Boston. After lighting up the nets in Miami, they shot 35.6 percent from the field and went 10-for-40 from three. They missed countless layups. Joe Mazzulla couldn’t use up his timeouts quickly enough. They were booed on their home court for the first time this season.
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points, Paul George had 17 points and old friend Daniel Theis had 18 points off the bench – more than any Celtic not named Tatum – for the Clippers, who were on the second leg of a back-to-back.
