The plan called for Christmas dinner at 9:30 p.m. in Los Angeles, not long after the Celtics plane touched down on Tuesday. Coach Doc Rivers acknowledged it wasn’t ideal timing for a team feast. But given the Celtics’ hectic holiday schedule, there was nothing he could do about it.

“It is what it is,” said Rivers with the slightest sigh of resignation. The Celtics might view their mini-West Coast swing in much the same way.