‘It’s definitely humbling’: Jrue Holiday, Joe Mazzulla bluntly assess Celtics’ loss to Clippers
Four of Boston's starters were held to single-digit scoring on Saturday night.
The 2023-24 Celtics have been one of the most dominant NBA teams all season long, but Saturday night was far from that. Boston lost in blowout fashion, 115-96, to the Los Angeles Clippers at home.
Speaking after the game, Celtics’ starting guard Jrue Holiday bluntly assessed the team’s performance.
“Good old fashioned a— whooping,” Holiday said. “They did everything better. Rebounding, transition, 50-50 ball. Seemed like they were a step ahead. … It’s definitely humbling, to come home and get your butt kicked, but we know it’s a long season, we know we can learn from this.”
Virtually everybody in Boston’s lineup was ice-cold offensively against the Clippers. Outside of Jayson Tatum’s 21 points, the rest of the Celtics starters combined for just 17 points. Al Horford went 0 for 5 and didn’t record a point. Derrick White shot 0 for 8 and only scored two points. Jaylen Brown shot just 3 of 13 from the field, and Holiday was 2 for 11.
In fact, Boston’s second and third-highest scorers were bench players: Payton Pritchard (12) and Luke Kornet (11).
On the other side, the Clippers dominated offensively, particularly in the second and third quarters. During those frames, they outscored the Celtics 65-39. Kawhi Leonard led the way with 26 points.
Joe Mazzulla noted the effect the Celtics’ misses started to have on their defense down the stretch.
“Half court defense in the first quarter was really good,” Mazzulla told reporters. “But our inefficient offense put pressure on our defense … and then our defense kind of cracked.”
Boston will have a chance to redeem itself on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. from the TD Garden.
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