Want to know if the Clippers are for real? Ask the Celtics (who lost to them by 29)

I’ve done some sports talk radio spots the last few days around the nation and this still seems to be the question on a lot of sports fans lips:

Are the Clippers really that good? Like title contender good?

Why don’t you go ask Doc Rivers or the Celtics? Or Rajon Rondo? Or Paul Pierce? Maybe not Kevin Garnett, that probably doesn’t go as well.

Boston became the latest victim of the Clippers combination of pressure defense and fast break finishing — Los Angeles handed Boston its worst loss of the season, 106-77. It was a thrashing. That is 15 straight wins for the Clippers (against 14 different teams, nearly half the NBA).

This game was over early — Boston opened the game shooting 3-of-11 and those misses became fast break opportunities for the Clippers and suddenly it was 18-4 before TNT even bothered to start showing the game (blame Darren Collison).

For the Clippers, everything was working — Blake Griffin was hitting midrange shots on his way to 15 points. Chris Paul was doing his best Curly Neal impression dribbling through the Celtics defense. Willie Green was draining threes.

And that was before the Clippers even got to their real strength — their bench. Matt Barnes had 21 points and Jamal Crawford 17. Even Lamar Odom was making plays without scoring, racking up 13 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.

We all get dazzled by the Clippers highlights but they are running off their defense — Boston shot 40 percent on the night, had 18 turnovers and 7 shots blocked. Each one of those misses or turnovers becomes the Clippers in transition, where their bigs run the floor faster than yours, their guards — CP3 and Eric Bledsoe — make the right decisions with the ball and they have shooters who can fill lanes or run to the corner for a three.

Boston, meanwhile, looked like they didn’t even know what hit them and never seriously threatened in the game. They got the lead down to four in the second quarter, so the Clippers responded with an 8-0 run and you knew what kind of night it would be. Kevin Garnett had 16 points on 11 shots, but every other Celtic struggled (Rajon Rondo was 4-of-121, Paul Pierce 5-of-13, and so on down the line).

A couple of days after the Celtics looked like they had a win they could build on in Brooklyn, they got steamrolled by the hottest team in the NBA. The only Celtic able to slow the Clippers was Jared Sullinger, and he did it by getting a flagrant foul for hitting Griffin around the neck.

Boston, now 14-14, need to just put this behind them and move on.

So maybe don’t ask them if the Clippers are for real. The evidence is in the final score.