The Boston Celtics once again were sluggish out the gate and suffered the consequences Tuesday night vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The lowly Thunder squeaked out a 119-115 victory despite entering as an 11-point underdog. The C's were without Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, and Robert Williams for the matchup.
Highlights: C's drop third straight with 119-115 loss to OKC
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Here are three quick takeaways from Boston's third straight defeat:
This was by far the Celtics' worst loss of the season
The Celtics have had some bad losses, so that's saying a lot.
Even with Tatum, Walker, and Williams out, there simply is no excuse for dropping this game against a Thunder team that entered with a 14-game losing streak. As NBC Sports Boston's Brian Scalabrine pointed out on the broadcast, the Thunder starting lineup's average age is two years younger than Baylor University's. Add in the fact OKC was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and this loss was simply disastrous for Boston.
The Celtics shot a putrid 11-for-49 (22.4 percent) from 3-point range. Somehow, they failed to take advantage of Oklahoma City's whopping 27 turnovers. It doesn't get much more deflating than that.
Where's the supporting cast?
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Jaylen Brown did all he could to try and propel the Celtics to victory. He finished with 39 points on 13 for 26 shooting to go with 11 rebounds.
Unfortunately for Boston, Brown can't do it all himself.
Evan Fournier's struggles continued as he notched 11 points, but shot only 4-for-11 from the field. In his last three games since returning from a bout with COVID-19, Fournier has 13 points on 4-for-24 shooting in 77 minutes.
Marcus Smart went 4-for-17 on the night and Tristan Thompson was a non-factor due to foul trouble. Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet were the only reliable options for the second unit.
With Walker out again Wednesday and Tatum's status up in the air, the Celtics are in rough shape heading into Wednesday's meeting with a Hornets team that already embarrassed them on Sunday. Brown will need his supporting cast to step up for the rematch.
At least Payton Pritchard showed up
It feels odd to take anything positive away from this Celtics loss, but Payton Pritchard certainly was a bright spot in Walker's absence.
The rookie stepped up with a career-high 28 points in 33 minutes off the bench. He went 9-for-16 from the field and 4-for-10 from 3-point range. Pritchard and Brown accounted for eight of Boston's 11 3s.
Without Pritchard, this C's defeat would have been far worse than it was. That's a scary thought.