You could say that the Celtics lacked focus and energy throughout the first half. That's how they found themselves behind 60-42 at halftime against a Clips team that on paper, should have been out of their element.
You could say the C's lacked toughness inside, and giving away Kendrick Perkins all but guaranteed they'd have occasional losses like this one.
You could say they earned this loss with their dreadful shooting — when Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo combine to shoot 10-of-30, you can't exactly expect a win.
Or you could give some overdue credit to a young, upstart Clippers team that played fantastically and fought for a hard-earned win at the TD Garden.
Let's try that option.
The Clips deserve some praise. They may have entered the night 24-40 on the season, one of the worst records in the Western Conference, including an especially glaring 6-25 on the road. But they're also improving steadily as the season goes on; they're playing better than ever now with the addition of Mo Williams, and they've beaten more than their fair share of quality opponents already this season. Just to name a few: the Lakers, Miami, San Antonio, Chicago, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, New York and Denver.
And now the Celtics.
"They've got a really nice young team," C's coach Doc Rivers said after the loss. "Their bigs all play their roles. I was just talking about [Clippers center] DeAndre Jordan before the game — it's rare when you get a young kid who really doesn't need to score. He just wants to run the floor, set picks and block shots. If his scoring comes on rolls to the basket, then he'll take it. He's happy with that. That's unusual, and that's great.
"I told them at halftime that we were going to get back in the game, but it's going to be very difficult to turn them off. Because once you turn a team on and they start making shots, they're comfortable. Give them credit — even when we cut [the lead], they still made a couple of big 3s."
Jordan had a stellar game with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. Williams went off for 28, equaling a season high, including 5-of-7 shooting from deep. Chris Kaman and Ryan Gomes each had big games as well.
Going into this one, all the focus was on Blake Griffin. Going out, the C's were blown away by the supporting cast around him.
"You definitely want to keep the ball out of Griffin's hands," Paul Pierce said. "But at the same time, you have to pay attention to a number of guys out there who are more than capable. I mean, you've got an All-Star in Mo Williams, obviously you can't leave him. And you've got DeAndre Jordan, a promising young big man who's really coming into his own. I thought we left him open far too many times for dunks. We did focus on their star, Blake, but I feel like we forgot about their other guys, and those are the guys that beat us."
This loss stings the Celtics a little bit. They had won five straight games going in, and morale was high despite a difficult midseason stretch with the roster realigning. But they can take comfort in knowing the team that beat them really earned it.
The C's weren't perfect on Wednesday night, but they lost a quality game to a quality opponent, and they can live with that.
"No one died," Rivers said. "We just lost a game. We're good."
