The Spurs 2-pointed the Celtics into submission, as in 42 2-point shots, including 19 from LaMarcus Aldridge, who essentially humiliated the Celtics defense with 48 points. He stayed in the game with less than two minutes left with the express purpose of getting 50.

Those are essentially givens. And they were proven yet again Sunday night, when the Celtics were embarrassed at home by the San Antonio Spurs, perhaps the worst team they could have faced while they were reeling and lacking confidence.

It has descended to a point now where it would be too easy to pick on the Celtics, to run down their laundry list of weaknesses and flaws, to chide them for their lackadaisical play, and to criticize the coach for having his team ill-prepared in key situations.


Mercifully, he departed with 1:35 left, having dwarfed any defender who attempted to provide token resistance, as the Spurs led by as many as 25.

As if blowing an 18-point lead with 8:21 left the night before in Charlotte weren’t bad enough, the Celtics returned home with a listless performance, one that has been all but indicative of what is turning into a nightmarish season.

They’re just 15 days from the end of the regular season, and at this point, they don’t look as if they could reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Their continued decline has almost reached laughable depths, blowing a big lead to a Charlotte team that looked completely defeated.

And the Spurs, with their Hall of Fame coach, Gregg Popovich, and their obsession with offensive execution, just pounded the Celtics. When the Celtics finally started to get occasional defensive stops, they couldn’t score enough to cut into the deficit and finally relented.

Kyrie Irving lacked energy, and he will be rested against Cleveland on Tuesday. Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Robert Williams were all out with injuries. The Celtics were 7 for 35 from the 3-point line and are now 7 for 47 (17 percent) since they took that 18-point lead in Charlotte.


The atmosphere around the team is rather depressing. And again, they held a players-only meeting to hash out some issues. But this one was more positive than the previous one in December after a humiliating home loss to Milwaukee.

So there are two possibilities:

(1) Resigned to who they are, the Celtics play out the string and hope things get better, and if not, they break up like a dysfunctional rock band.

(2) They actually believe they are making progress, and they are fooling all of us with this late-season swoon.

Irving, who has been one of the more pessimistic Celtics at times

— including Saturday, when he criticized coach Brad Stevens for the team’s defense on Charlotte point guard Kemba Walker — was rather optimistic Sunday.

Either he truly believes the Celtics can resuscitate their season or he’s numbed and just counting the days until free agency.

“I never worry how we respond,” he said. “We’ve proven that we just need to be consistent with that, that’s all. We’ve got a lot of great guys in this locker room. They’re committed to winning, and we’re winners in this locker room as well. So I’m never worried about trying to go back and respond with these guys. They’re a resilient group.


“We’ve proven that for the last year and a half we’ve been together. It hasn’t been pretty all the time, but we’ve always tried to find a way to figure it out, get the most out of each other.”

Believe it or not, there remains hope. The Celtics are two games behind Indiana for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with two more games against the Pacers, the first Friday at TD Garden. Seven of the Pacers’ final eight games come against teams in the playoffs or competing for the playoffs, including a pair of games with Detroit and a road game at Oklahoma City.

It’s still possible for the Celtics to pick up the pieces, get a fourth seed, and play an Indiana team that is without its best player.

First, the Celtics have to get healthy. Horford’s knee is still not right. Tatum should return soon from his back injury, and Irving will get at least two or three games off to rest.

Again, it’s too easy to bury this team and call a first-round playoff elimination. There remains too much potential, and too much opportunity to make right what has been a ridiculously disappointing season.

What did the players-only meeting accomplish? Maybe it was a sign that these guys still care. No players — even the ones who will be out the door next season — want to wear the stench of a first-round playoff elimination and perhaps go down as the most disappointing Celtics team in the past 30 years.


They will go down with that dubious honor if nothing changes. But there is still time and a chance. Let’s see if there’s still desire to change their ways.

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.