The Celtics were in their house yet again watching another team put their feet up on the couch.
The final quarter of their 111-91 loss to the Grizzlies last night almost had the feel of a scrimmage. Coach Doc Rivers began the period with his starters on the bench.
The Garden was all yellow and black, more seats empty than occupied.
Hasheem Thabeet, the second pick in last year’s draft who was fresh up from a six-game stay in the D-League, was throwing dunks down and getting his confidence up.
The Celtics were just waiting out the clock.
When Rivers looked at the scoreboard and saw that there were only two minutes left in a game that was essentially over after the first 12, he saw the only thing close to light at the end of the tunnel.
“When they announced that, that was the only good message this entire game,’’ Rivers said. “We were awful. Energy was awful.’’
Memphis had offensive options in the starting lineup — Rudy Gay (28 points and eight rebounds), Zach Randolph (13 points, 10 rebounds), O.J. Mayo (17 points), and Mike Conley (12), plus Sam Young (11 points) and Marcus Williams (16) off the bench.
The Celtics, who missed 15 of their first 20 shots, put themselves in a 27-12 hole after the first quarter, and scored a season low 33 points in the first half.
When the rookie Young took off a few feet in front of the Celtics bench and scored at the 9:21 mark of the fourth, fans started heading for the exits.
All Boston’s Ray Allen (17 points, same as Rajon Rondo) could do was watch in disgust.
“It [ticks] me off,’’ Allen said. “I want to do the best job that I know how. It’s a lot of people’s first time in the building . . . performance-wise you want to do everything you can to show people enjoyment.’’
Manny Pacquiao gave the Celtics boxing gloves before the game. The Grizzlies never let them get a punch in. Gay scored any way he wanted, whether he was drilling threes (3 of 5) or cramming one-handed flushes, such as his huge dunk on a second-quarter breakaway that made it 50-31.
The Celtics had no answer for the Grizzlies on the boards, where Memphis dominated, 48-29, the worst margin since Boston was outrebounded, 55-32, by the Spurs in December. The Grizzlies seemed to feed off sucking the life out of the Celtics.
“Because we didn’t make shots, you could see us not running back on defense, getting down,’’ Rivers said.
The further the Celtics sank, the more energized Memphis seemed to become. Rivers said his team (average age: 29) can’t be expected to run with a team like Memphis (24.5).