The LA Clippers suffered a rough defeat on Saturday afternoon. With the Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics in town and Kawhi Leonard once again out of the lineup with hip soreness, things looked to be challenging from the get go.
The ensuing game was one that quickly turned into a blowout. After losing their nine-game winning streak on Thursday against Oklahoma City, LA suffered their second loss in a row when they were shell-shocked by Boston's prolific offense.
In the Celtics' 145-108 win at Crypto.com Arena, the team in green and white was able to nail a season-best 25 shots from three-point territory. Without their best player, the Clippers' defense struggled to keep up. Leading the charge for Boston was Jayson Tatum.
The star wing put up 30 points and knocked down five of his team's 25 threes. LA was paralyzed trying to contain Tatum. After the game, a clip of P.J. Tucker reacting to Tatum's fantastic game went viral on social media.
Please take a moment to watch PJ Tucker get increasingly frustrated on the bench as Jayson Tatum lights up the Clippers pic.twitter.com/Jj0PqI7ofq
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) December 23, 2023
P.J. Tucker could not believe Jayson Tatum's hot shooting
This clip from the postgame show on NBC Sports Boston shows four of Jayson Tatum's three-point makes during Saturday's game. With each make, P.J. Tucker can be seen on the Clippers' bench becoming increasingly bothered.
By the time Tatum's last shot is seen going in, Tucker is putting both hands on his head and looks like he is ready to get up and walk off the floor. We have already seen him express his frustration with his role in LA this season, and scenarios like this certainly do not make him feel any better.
At the end of the day, this is the kind of situation teams must be prepared for when facing this talented Boston Celtics team. The Clippers still had plenty of capable defenders on the floor even with Leonard out, and Boston was ripping the nets all afternoon. Their hot shooting is one of the main reasons many consider them a top-tier contender for a championship.