Teams are competing and not blatantly exercising organizational priorities, and in a culture where we’re waiting for the next “trades we want to see” piece to drop, I like that NBA Cup games take place just after the glorified feel-out games that mark the opening weeks of the season and wrap up just before all of those new contracts become tradeable.

While the Celtics started slow from 3-point land against the Clippers, that quickly changed once the second quarter came. Los Angeles has impressed this season, bringing in a top-5 defensive rating into Monday’s game at TD Garden.

The Clippers trail by 29 at halftime, as Boston makes 22 3-point shots (12 in the second quarter) and hands them their first loss in six games, 126-94. Ivica Zubac has 23 points and 10 rebounds to