Six times the Celtics have played the second game of a back-to-back on the road and six times they have lost spectacularly.

Dec. 28: At New Orleans: 97-78
Jan. 14: At Indiana 97-83
Feb. 10: At Toronto 86-74
Feb. 16: At Chicago 89-80
Feb. 20: At Dallas 89-73

You can add Wednesday night in Philadelphia as the Celtics were embarrassed, 103-71 in a so-called showdown against the division-leading 76ers. It was over almost as soon as it started. Then it got worse. The 71 points tied a season-low and the 32-point spread was the worst loss in The Big Three era.

WHAT WENT WRONG

About those back-to-backs: If you wanted to know why the Celtics struggle so match in back-to-backs, all you had to do was watch the first quarter when they constantly settled for jump shots and were killed on the offensive glass. They were outscored 20-4 in the paint at the start and that was just a prelude to ….

The second quarter blues: It’s not that hard to figure out. The Celtics’ offense goes from mediocre to awful whenever Rajon Rondo is out of the game. Their bench is one of the worst scoring outfits in the league. They needed something from Chris Wilcox and Mickael Pietrus. They got nothing.

Rondo, oh no: On the one hand, there wasn’t much that Rondo could do when the Celtics weren’t getting stops or rebounds and everyone else was moving in slow motion. On the other, this was a game when you’d like to see Rondo try to take it on his shoulders and jumpstart his team. Instead he took six shots in 28 minutes and was a minus-28.

Someone woke up Evan Turner: A story making the rounds in Philly on Wednesday is that the second-year Sixers guard had some kind of unidentified “issue,” that is holding him back. Whatever issues Turner may or may not have — and he and coach Doug Collins denied a problem before the game — he worked them out against the Celtics to the tune of 26 points in 36 minutes. He’s the kind of young, athletic player the Celtics would love to start adding to the roster.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Doc pulled a Popovich: For years, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has treated back to backs as if they don’t exist. He’s been known to pull his starters en masse and rest them while his team takes their lumps. Doc Rivers has often resisted the ploy, preferring to have his team work through their issues on the court and try to build momentum. He called them off early on Wednesday, saving their legs for Friday night’s game in Portland.

This was lockout ugly hoops at its worst. Slow offense, shoddy rebounding, careless turnovers, they were all on display in abundance as the Celtics and Rockets met in a game someone had to win because obviously they both couldn’t lose. The Celtics prevailed, 97-92 because their old men — Paul Pierce and Ray Allen — turned back the clock in the overtime.

It was Allen’s 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a late lead in regulation and Pierce — 30 points, six rebounds — who willed them to the win in the extra session. The old guys still have something left. How much they have for Philadelphia on Wednesday night remains to be seen, but somehow it’s a game for first place in the Atlantic Division.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The second quarter, for once: Down by seven points after an uninspired first 12 minutes, the Celtics stormed back on the strength of their defense. The Rockets shot 63 percent in the first quarter, but they made only five of 21 shots in the second. The effort started with the much-maligned second unit who managed to score only six points in their four-minute run. However, they also held the Rockets to just two points and Houston started the quarter 1-for-11 from the floor.

Greg Stiemsma had his best game since his last good game: It’s been a long time since the Stiemer had done something of note. You’d have to go all the way back to Jan. 2 when he scored 13 points as a starter to match his production in the first half against the Rockets when he scored eight points on 4-for-6 shooting. Stiemsma was pressed into service after Brandon Bass went back to the locker room to have his ankle re-taped. As with Sunday’s game, Bass’ tape job took over 20 minutes to complete.

Just your average Rajon Rondo: There was very little buzz in the arena and the national television cameras were nowhere in sight. The opponent was Kyle Lowry, an excellent NBA point guard, but not a phenom on par with Jeremy Lin. Rondo was alternately the best player on the court, and the owner of the game’s biggest mistake when he fumbled a ball and missed a breakaway layup that would have iced it. He finished with nine points and 12 assists and outplayed Lowry for three and a half quarters.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Slow starts to halves: The Celtics started the game in a haze, almost as if there was a carryover from Sunday’s emotional overtime win over New York. Rondo was the only active Celtic for most of the quarter and Luis Scola and Chandler Parsons shot 7-for-8 as Houston built a 28-21 lead.

That was only a prelude to a lockout-ugly third quarter in which the Celtics were outscored 28-17 and saw a 10-point lead turn into a five-point deficit. They went without a field goal for the last five minutes, 21 seconds of the quarter.

Not a banner night for KG: Fresh off his string of double-doubles, Kevin Garnett had a rough night against Rockets’ center Sam Dalembert. Not only was he held to just 13 points and seven shots, he also picked up a fourth quarter technical foul and missed two free throws in overtime. Garnett had 13 rebounds, but the Celtics got annihilated on the boards, 57-38.

Bench production lacking: Chris Wilcox was 1-for-4 in an ineffective 20 minutes. Mickael Pietrus missed both his shots and so did Keyon Dooling. The veteran trio scored four points in 44 minutes.

With less than 10 days to go until the March 15 trade deadline, the future of Magic center Dwight Howard is still cloudy.

It’s been known for some time that there are three teams on his list of preferred trade destinations: New Jersey, Dallas and the Lakers. It has also been known that Golden State would be willing to trade for Howard without assurances that he would sign an extension with them.

Magic GM told Otis Smith told the Orlando Sentinel that “six to eight” teams were still calling. Orlando is still hoping to convince Howard to stay long-term.

In other Howard-related news, the Nets announced that center Brook Lopez will be out three weeks with a sprained right ankle. Lopez has been mentioned prominently in trade talks.

The Clippers have been looking for backcourt help ever since Chauncey Billups went down with a season-ending Achilles injury, and they have their eye on Celtics’ guard Ray Allen, according to Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick. However, as Amick points out:

“The price is likely too high, as Boston wants a package that includes a young talent and a draft pick.”

The best young player the Clippers have — besides Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, let’s be serious, folks — is second-year guard Eric Bledsoe, and he’s out with a knee injury. The Clips also don’t have a draft pick to offer because it already belongs to the Celtics, who acquired it in the Kendrick Perkins trade.

There doesn’t appear to be a match here, but expect more chatter to follow Allen who is in the final year of a deal that pays him $10 million. His overall game has fallen off a bit, but Allen remains one of the best shooters in the league.

The New York Daily News threw out the suggestion that the Celtics would be interested in Atlanta’s Josh Smith “and other young studs,” while using the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce as bait.

Here’s the rumor:

“With the Big Three’s window now shut, Ainge is trying to land Atlanta’s Josh Smith and other young studs, while offering up Kevin Garnett. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen can also be had, for young players and draft picks. Rajon Rondo might be leaving, too, with the Lakers and Utah seen as possible destinations.”

The interesting part of this rumor is the suggestion of Garnett, which is the first time his name has been linked in any trade rumor since he’s come to Boston. Garnett is in the last year of a contract that pays him $21 million and Smith has another year left after this one at $13 million, so that wouldn’t work straight-up. The Hawks have other short contracts like Kirk Hinrich, who is in the last year of a deal that pays him $8 million.

Smith was high school teammates with Rajon Rondo at Oak Hill Academy and the two have remained close. He’s still just 26 years old and many felt that he deserved a spot on the All-Star team. He’d be the kind of player the Celtics would be looking to acquire if they move forward with Rondo.

Now that we’ve reached the midway point, the NBA season is still a nebulous blob of strange. Who could have foreseen that the biggest story of the first half would have involved an undrafted free agent from Harvard who was cut twice and possibly on his way out for a third time? We have seen the rise of the Clippers and the fall of the Celtics, as well as the emergence — and disappearance — of the Nuggets and Blazers. The East remains status quo, with everyone chasing the Bulls and Heat. The West is a tangled mess of very good teams with no clear front-runner.

1. Miami (27-7): Here’s the deal for the Heat and LeBron James. When you have the best player in the league on the best team in the league, you have to win the championship. It doesn’t matter if LeBron winds up passing to Eddy Curry for the winning shot in the final minutes — if he and Miami wins, he’ll be exonerated. Not beloved, not even liked, but the only way LeBron will finally be set free is if he wins a championship.

2. Chicago (27-8): Pity the Bulls. They are as merciless in their approach as star guard Derrick Rose is apparently mirthless in his. They take you apart on defense and have more than enough offense and depth to run roughshod over teams in the regular season. But do they have enough firepower for the Heat? LeBron and Dwyane Wade will no doubt take turns smothering Rose. What then?

3. Oklahoma City (27-7): Windows are strange things in the NBA and while the Thunder’s is in no way closing, it is wide open right now. The West is a jumble; any of five other teams could legitimately make a claim on winning the conference crown this season. But in that confusion lies Oklahoma City’s opportunity. The pieces are in place. Kevin Durant is in his prime. Russell Westbrook is a star and James Harden isn’t far behind. A Heat-Thunder finals would capture the nation’s imagination and re-write the rules on big/small markets.

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The most disturbing thing about the Celtics road trip was that they didn’t hit rock bottom until the very end. One might have thought it came against Detroit when the Celtics lost by double digits to one of the worst teams in the league and Rajon Rondo was ejected and ultimately suspended for two games. Nope.

One might have though it would have happened against the Mavericks in a game where they struggled to score 73 points and were never seriously competitive from the opening tip. Not even close.

Rock bottom appeared in the first half on Wednesday when their vaunted defense was shredded to the tune of 72 points in a 119-104 loss to Oklahoma City. It was the first time in 29 games that an opponent had scored over 100 points against the Celtics. Not only did the Thunder shoot 57 percent in the first half. They also made 8-of-12 3-pointers and the Celtics didn’t record a single steal or block.

Making it worse they actually got within six points late in the fourth quarter after being down by 27 points. Like most Celtics’ comebacks this season, it wasn’t enough. They have now lost five games in a row and seven of eight.

The only consolation is that the All-Star break is mercifully here. They’ll need those five days off to recover and try to get healthy. Brandon Bass, Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox all missed the game with injuries in addition to Rondo, who was serving the second game of his suspension.

WHAT WENT WRONG

– The Celtics actually led 22-12, but OKC came back with a 25-3 run and that was basically that. The Thunder actually scored 21 straight points, slicing through the Celtics’ depleted second unit. OKC outscored the Celtics 27-4 in bench points in the first half, and the immortal Royal Ivey actually doubled their total.

– The bench has been a problem all season, but with Bass, Wilcox, Rondo and O’Neal things got ugly. Keyon Dooling, in particular, had a miserable night. It’s worth asking halfway through the season if he has a role anymore. He’s not a backup point guard and Mickael Pietrus has taken his minutes behind Ray Allen.

– Free throws and rebounding were again their undoing in a first quarter that should have seen them build a lead. At one point in the first quarter, the Celtics were shooting 69 percent while holding OKC to 39 percent and they had a one-point lead. How? The Thunder had four offensive rebounds and 11 free throws.

– Every time the Celtics crept within single digits, Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant made a play. They combined for 59 points.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Celtics jumped out to a 13-4 lead and the energy was palatable right from the opening tip when Paul Pierce scored a layup off the opening tip. They were in attack mode, aggressively challenging the Thunder defense. That’s when things fell apart.

– Avery Bradley had one of his best offensive games as a starter, with 12 points and five assists. He not only made a couple of mid-range jump shots, he also throw down an electrifying dunk on Durant and successfully ran a pick and pop with Kevin Garnett. The last part may not sound like much, but that’s a major improvement from where he was last season.

– Garnett was solid in his return after missing two games because of a family issue. He scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 38 minutes of work. All five starters scored in double figures.