Boston Celtics Show Celtic Pride Before Coming Up Short Against Los Angeles Clippers

Hardwood Houdini fans, you can call Gerald Wallace a lot of things.  Overpaid.  Turnover prone.  Disgruntled.  (Please don’t go any farther

Jan 8, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers power forward

(32) tries to drive past Boston Celtics power forward

(30) during second quarter action at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

with this idea – this is a family website!)   You get the idea.

Still, following his calling out his Boston Celtics teammates after Tuesday night’s blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets, there is one thing you cannot call him: wrong.

One night after being accused of being all talk in practice and no follow through in prime time by Wallace, the Boston Celtics put up a good, hard fight against the Los Angeles Clippers before succumbing 111-105.   Despite the loss, it was a welcome change from the showing the Celtics displayed a little over 24 hours before, as Boston never quit fighting, even after falling into a 16 point hole during a huge run by the Clippers in the first quarter.  The Celtics even managed to make the game’s closing minutes interesting, shaving another double-digit lead to four with just around a minute left to play.

Of course, at the end of the night the Celtics suffered their sixth straight loss, and have dropped nine out of their last ten games, so I’m sure these “moral victories” don’t count very much in Boston’s locker room.  Still, as I said in my pregame write-up, the players on this team need to remember who they play for: the Boston Celtics.  This is the most storied franchise in NBA history, damn it!  Lose if you must, but do so with pride and composure, two things that were sorely missing from the debacle in Denver.

This game was a pretty physical one from start to finish, with the Celtics refusing to back down to the likes of Blake Griffin, even after Griffin absolutely abused Kris Humphries:

Poor guy – he had been having a pretty good game up until that moment of premature posterization.  Hump has made a solid impression on me; I’d love to see the Celtics convince him to stick around, albeit it with a bit more affordable price tag.

Brandon Bass played a man’s game tonight, scoring 14 hard-earned points in the paint and serving up a poster of his own.  Jeff Green nothced his first double-double of the season (24 points and 11 boards), while the 1-2 punch of Jordan Crawford and Avery Bradley led Boston with 24 points apiece.  Still, Steez displayed some moments of “Let’s just pound the rock while everyone watches me” in the fourth, and Avery sucked some of the momentum out of the Celtics after his perfectly-timed steal late in the fourth was followed by a terrible pass that was stolen right back by the Clips.

Things don’t exactly get easier for the Celtics, as they prepare for a Friday night go with the Golden State Warriors following tomorrow’s night off.  Boston still has two chances to take SOMETHING meaningful away from this West Coast nightmare of a road trip; let’s hope they build on some of tonight’s success and show up ready to play against Stephen Curry and company.