I can guarantee you that Brad Stevens vehemently disagrees with the bolded. Sure, an out of conference road loss is the least painful loss possible. But at this point in the season, wins matter most of all, even with the Celtics holding a 4 game edge in the Eastern Conference. Injuries can happen, slumps can occur, or another team can get hot and go on a 17 game winning streak. Stevens isn't throwing games at this juncture, nor would we want him to.
The Celtics got beat. Sure, it would make sense for Stevens to play it conservative if Baynes may have gotten hurt, as they need him even more Sunday night. We obviously don't know all the reasons for Stevens' matchup decisions last night, but I doubt it was due to his thinking the game didn't matter.