The Celtics have indeed won 37 games. However, this loss against the Lakers was the worst of their 12 losses thus far.

The Celtics have indeed won 37 games. However, this loss against the Lakers was the worst of their 12 losses thus far.

Superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis would not be playing in the Lakers’ historic 300th game against the Celtics on Thursday night, at least the team said a few hours before tipoff.

In certain situations, the Celtics’ 114-105 defeat at the hands of James’s Supporting Cast at TD Garden may be dismissed as an anomaly, an infrequently bad Thursday night in a lengthy season. However, even in the context of this largely fantastic season, those conditions do not exist at present time.

Among the Celtics’ 12 losses thus far, this one was the worst. Indeed, they lead the Eastern Conference comfortably and have won 37 games. Not that they were defeated. It’s who, and particularly how.

Games against the Lakers are always important. Regardless of which athletes are performing or putting on a fashion display while sitting on the bench, they are still important. The Celtics were hit with this one like a ton of bricks.

The Boston Celtics? They lacked even the decency to notify someone that they would not be attending.

Even worse, they’ve been losing more often lately. These are the self-inflicted losses, when they’re sloppy with the ball and overly casual in their shot selection, the very kind that condemned them deep into previous postseasons. Furthermore, it’s occurring at a time when someone who genuinely supports this squad or believes in them was hoping to see them fade into obscurity or removed entirely from their repertory.

suddenly that Marcus Smart, the agent of mayhem, is in Memphis and the Celtics suddenly have Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, we must question again: Is this a rut or is it still ingrained in their DNA?

At home, the Celtics got off to a 20-0 lead. Since then, they’ve dropped three out of five games on the court, beginning on January 19 with a two-point loss against the defending champion Nuggets. There is nothing wrong with that. However, they did not play against the Clippers on Saturday. And this is against the incredibly thin-handed Lakers, who were just one injury away from needing to provide Smush Parker and Mark Landesberger with significant playing time. Kind of feels like a trend began when the Celtics unexpectedly failed to show up in Milwaukee on January 11 during a 33-point loss.

Recall that inspiring trip to the West Coast in December, when they fell short of the Warriors in overtime on the Steph Curry skyscraper, but went on to average 138 points a game and win by a 24-point margin.