Man I am not feeling so good after that one.
I am going to say this was not a "tough loss." Tough losses are those where you play near your best, the breaks go your way, and your opponent somehow still finds away to beat you in the end. Those are tough because they mean you probably are not good enough to win.
GSW was minus Klay Thompson, however I feel like the Celtics showed last night that they are very, very close to competing with and beating the NBA's elite teams. We have seen glimpses of it already this season against San Antonio, and we will see what they can do against the Cavs next week.
It's not "tough" because the Celtics did not play their best last night. IT4 had a bad game, as far as his standards are. Sullinger shot the ball terribly. Avery fouled out. Smart is injured. The refs, though awful for both teams, gave GSW 20 more free throws and they made most of those. So they didn't get many breaks. The Cs made some bad turnovers late in the game too.
It's not "tough" because given everything I said above...they still had the ball in their hands at the end of regulation and 1st OT with the last shot and a chance to win. They had it in the hands of the guy they wanted, with the space they wanted, and he didn't make the plays.
So I will be disappointed when this team absolutely maxes out their ability, plays as hard as possible, shoots well, and gets officiated fairly....and STILL loses. That will be tough.
We are nowhere near that yet.