Jrue Holiday Wholeheartedly Sums Up Celtics’ Second Home Loss Of Season

The Boston Celtics may own the NBA’s best record at 35-11, but that doesn’t mean an opponent can come into TD Garden and show the squad they can have off nights.

The Los Angeles Clippers did just that with the 115-96 decision over Boston for just the Celtics’ only second loss at home this season.

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday shot just 18.1% from the field, connecting on 2-of-11 attempts.

“Good old-fashioned (expletive) whooping,” Holiday described the loss to reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “They did everything better. Rebounding, transition, 50-50 ball … it seemed like they were a step ahead.”

While the loss may sting in the moment, Holiday appears to have taken Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla’s value of taking lessons from each game and applying them to the next.

“Definitely humbling. I think to be able to come home and get your butt kicked, but we know it’s a long season,” Holiday said. “We know we can learn from this and just kind of hold it in our back pocket. Always be in the back of our head we had a good game right before.”

Jayson Tatum (21 points) was the lone starter for the C’s to reach double-digits in scoring in the loss. Jaylen Brown had an off night, connecting on just three shots for eight points. Kristaps Porzingis was sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered in Boston’s win over the Miami Heat on Thursday. Al Horford started in his place and didn’t record a single point in 19 minutes of playing time.

The Celtics are in the midst of a seven-game homestand with the New Orleans Pelicans looking to take the next shot at Boston on Monday night. The C’s are still near-perfect at home with only two losses on the season, while the Pelicans are 12-10 on the road.