The Boston Celtics laid an egg in epic fashion vs. the Los Angeles Lakers at TD Garden this past Thursday night, the Celtics coming up short to the tune of 114-95. The low-effort performance from Boston caught the attention of the national broadcast crew covering the game. Hall of Famer Charles Barkley laid into the Celtics on TNT’s “Inside the NBA, saying (via Eurosport) “I’m almost off their bandwagon. I don’t know if they can (win the 2024 NBA Championship).”

“And I’ll tell you why,” continued the Round Mound of Rebound. “I’ve watched them twice against elite teams in the last two weeks.”

“This thing tonight shows me,” he added, referring to the Lakers debacle.

“Two weeks ago, I’m going to watch them play the Denver Nuggets,” said Barkley. “They went and spanked them — by two. The (Los Angeles) Clippers come into town, and I want to see them, because they’re the two best teams in the West.”

“And Tyronn Lue (head coach of the Clippers) said something interesting, he said: ‘Paul George was not going to play tonight, but he wanted to send the Celtics a message in case we played them in the finals’ — and they stomped them.”

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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire