BOSTON -- We have seen the Boston Celtics lose some head-scratchers to teams that they had no business getting beat by this season.
But Saturday’s 123-112 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers has to rank at or near the top of the list of bad losses - and they’ve got quite a pile of them this season, for sure.
The Clippers were playing with a rotation in which nearly half of the players were acquired at the trade deadline, meaning they had little to no time to develop any kind of chemistry.
It didn’t matter.
The Celtics, after leading by as many as 28 points, squandered the lead in what again has to rank among the worst losses this season and certainly in the Brad Stevens era.
Of course it didn’t help that Kyrie Irving went down in the second quarter with a right knee sprain.
But that wasn’t why they lost this game.
Boston Celtics
Find the latest Boston Celtics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
The Clippers continued to play and the Celtics, as we’ve seen time and time again, stopped hustling, sharing the ball, defending … all the little things they had done at an elite level in the first half.
We’ve seen them suffer bad losses before, but this one was different on so many levels and has to be seen as one of the worst ever in franchise history considering the lead they had, the state of the opponent and to be candid, the quality of talent on both rosters.
Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Boston’s loss to the Clippers
STARS
Montrezl Harrell: Whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, Harrell has been solid most of this season for the Clippers. He led the way scoring for them on Saturday with 21 points off the bench.
Kyrie Irving: He only had 14 points in just 14 minutes of play because of a right knee sprain. But the fact that the Celtics just fell apart in the third quarter speaks to how valuable he is to this team.
STUDS
Danilo Gallinari: When healthy, he has been a solid contributor both as a scorer and rebounding the ball. The Clippers got a good dose of both from him on Saturday as Gallinari tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds with four assists.
Terry Rozier: With Kyrie Irving (right knee sprain) unable to return in the second half, Rozier got a few more minutes than usual and - no surprise here - made the most of his increased playing time as he finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Ivani Zubac: His strength, physicality and touch around the rim were huge for the Clippers. For the game, he had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Landry Shamet: In his first game with the Clippers, he came off the bench and scored 17 points including a pair of 3's in the fourth to tie the game up.
DUDS
The Third Quarter Celtics: Once again it was the third quarter which proved to be the Boston Celtics’ undoing, as the Clippers made it a single-digit game after Boston had led by as many as 28 points. It was the same old story: poor shot selection offensively and shoddy play defensively together allowed a team that Boston should have easily defeated to suddenly gain confidence and make it a much closer game than it should have been.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.