The Boston Celtics certainly looked like a sluggish team on the second night of a back-to-back for most of Wednesday night's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
With a whopping 23 turnovers and a less-than-stellar showing from their starters, the C's dropped their second straight game at Staples Center. Jayson Tatum (29 pts) sparked a valiant comeback effort in the third quarter, and the Celtics cut the lead to one in the fourth, but it wasn't enough as Boston fell to 13-13 on the season.
Forsberg: Something needs to change for C's after latest step back
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Here are three quick takeaways from the Celtics' 114-111 loss. They'll wrap up their West Coast trip with a tough matchup vs. the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
Brandon Boston dominates Boston
Prepare yourself for plenty of Boston puns in the sports pages, because Clippers rookie Brandon Boston cooked the Boston Celtics in what was by far his best game yet as a pro.
Boston broke out with a career-high 27 points (9-13) while adding four steals in 25 minutes off the bench. The Kentucky product did most of his damage in the second quarter when the Clippers outscored the C's 39-23.
To put Boston's breakout in perspective, he entered Wednesday having totaled 54 points on the campaign while shooting 18 of 46 from the field.
The Celtics defense has been anything but impressive as of late, but credit where credit is due. Boston looked like the real deal in this one and propelled his team to a win with star Paul George sidelined.
Boston Celtics
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
Besides Boston, the story of the game was the Celtics' carelessness with the basketball. The C's turned the ball over an inexcusable 23 times. Tatum and Robert Williams contributed six of those turnovers apiece.
According to The Athletic's Jay King, the Celtics have tallied 23 turnovers only six other times over the last 10 years. Not ideal.
L.A. tallied 33 points off those turnovers, and that was the difference in a game in which Boston (the team, not the player) came oh-so-close to pulling off an improbable 21-point comeback.
Josh Richardson a bright spot off the bench
While the starting lineup struggling for the majority of the contest, Josh Richardson stepped up to provide big minutes for the second unit. The 28-year-old contributed 17 points (5-11 FG, 3-6 from 3) in 30 minutes.
Richardson has been a welcome addition for the C's this season and a key contributor on both ends of the floor. He's averaging 9.7 points and 2.8 rebounds off the bench through 20 games and seems to consistently come through when called upon in the clutch. Unfortunately for the Celtics, they needed a whole lot more than Richardson's spark off the bench to keep up with the Clippers, especially in the first half.