BOSTON - For the second straight home game, the Celtics put themselves in a hole too big to dig themselves out of.
After giving the Heat a 17-point lead at halftime last week, the Celtics found themselves down by 14 points after the first quarter on Sunday against the Clippers, and 21 points at the half.
That lead would grow to a whopping 35 points in the third quarter before the Celtics made their token mini-run to make things interesting, but ultimately run out of time. They lost by 13 points, a deficit created all the way back in that first quarter.
While some fans may wish to put on the green goggles and look on the bright side after another fun fourth quarter, others would be right as to question why this Celtics team has come out so flat at the start of games as of late.
"I would say that tonight is a combination of, there were sow things we didn't do, and they're playing at a very high level," Brad Stevens said.
We didn't provide any defensive resistance at all, nobody has against them recently if you look at their scores and watch them play, and then offensively I thought that we missed a ton of great, open looks in the first half, especially from behind the arc and for whatever reason I thought that affected us negatively."
The Celtics shot just 9-for-24 (37.5-percent) in the first quarter compared to the Clippers' 12-20 (60-percent). Boston also didn't go to the line once in the first quarter, instead looking for jump shots - of which they couldn't hit.
"I felt like we had open shots," Thomas said. "Their key was probably keep us out of the paint, which they did a good job of. But we made good passes and got the shots we wanted, but they just didn't fall. When they don't fall you gotta remain confident but you also have to adjust and you gotta try to get to the hole and get fouled."
The Celtics got more aggressive as the game went on, going to the line 13 times in the second quarter and 23 times overall, but it wasn't enough as the Clippers continued to pull away.
The Celtics ranked 23rd in first-quarter scoring going into Sunday's game, averaging 23.7 points. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics jump all the way up to second in the NBA with 26.0 points.
So why the lull lately to start things off, especially in big games playing in front of the home crowd?
"I don't know. It needs to change," Thomas said. "We have to be the team that punches first and not just get hit first. The Clippers hit us first and it was all she wrote after that . . . I don't think we're tired. It's just something that needs to change. We have to punch first. We gotta hit first. I don't know what it is, but we're waiting to get hit and then it's tough for us to get back in it. We gotta change that as soon as possible."
As soon as possible starts Monday night in Charlotte in what is now a must-win game for a Celtics team on the outside looking in.