LOS ANGELES -- The Celtics were missing two key rotation players in Marcus Smart (hand) and Al Horford (head) and still managed to play their best game of basketball in weeks on Wednesday night in a 113-102 victory over the Clippers at Staples Center.
Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 19 points in a balanced scoring effort as five different players scored in double figures. Jayson Tatum also pitched in with 18 points on a career-high 15 field goal attempts, showing much better aggression than we've seen in recent weeks. Boston got big minutes from nearly the entire bench unit as well on a night that depth was sorely needed.
Blake Griffin had a game-high 23 points in the defeat for the Clippers.
GAME: No. 49 of 82
WHO: Celtics (34-14) vs. Clippers (23-23)
WHEN: 10:30 EST
WHERE: Staples Center
RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub
TV: NBC Sports Boston, ESPN
BOX SCORE: NBA.COM
Projected Starting Lineups:
Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris
C: Aron Baynes
Inactive list: Gordon Hayward (ankle), Marcus Smart and Al Horford are out.
Clippers:
PG: Milos Teodosic
SG: Tyrone Wallace
SF: Wesley Johnson
PF: Blake Griffin
C: DeAndre Jordan
Inactive list: Patrick Beverley, Danilo Gallinari, Austin Rivers and Jawun Evans are out.
Third Quarter Notes
- A seesaw affair through the third frame that ended in the Celtics favor. C's came out rolling in the first four minutes behind some strong offense from Tatum and Baynes, but Baynes picked up a couple quick fouls that sent him to bench early with 5.
- From there, the C's defense had a bit of letdown for a few minutes, as the Clippers attacked the interior in the pick-and-roll with Lou Williams and Jordan.
- Things managed to stabilize though for Boston surprisingly though as they went to their bench.
- Semi Ojeleye knocked down a 3 while manning up well on Griffin in the interior. Meanwhile Rozier, and Larkin both were sparkplugs for an offense that surprisingly gained a rhythm with Kyrie Irving resting, building up the Celtics lead to double digits at the end of the frame.
- Some very big minutes from the second unit to start the second quarter while Kyrie Irving rested. Offense by committee was the name of the game as Daniel Theis and Terry Rozier chipped in with some timely offense.
- Jayson Tatum also got aggressive with his shot in the midrange as a featured weapon as the lone starter with the unit. He knocked down a couple midrange jumpers and started to show more of the confidence we were seeing before his latest slump.
- Foul issues arose again in the second quarter as C's got themselves into the penalty with six minutes left in the frame after piling up a number of non-shooting fouls
- Celtics bench unit scored 15 of C's first 45 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. A much needed contribution on a shorthanded night for C's.
- The Clippers rode the C's constant stream of fouls to a comeback midway through the frame. Not only did DeAndre Jordan hit some free throws after being hacked, but the Clippers were rewarded with three loose ball fouls on offensive rebounds. At one point, the foul difference was 17-5 in the Clippers favor, which prompted a technical foul on Brad Stevens as he protested .
- Celtics go with their traditional big lineup with Marcus Morris filling in at power forward for Al Horford
- Baynes spent much of the first quarter matched up with Blake Griffin and did a hell of a job on him. The veteran center used his muscle and positioning from keeping Griffin from getting a rhythm and forced him into settling for contested jumpers and running shots.
- The Celtics center also found an offensive rhythm for the first time in seemingly weeks. He hit a a couple of jump shots and threw down an alley-oop to give the Celtics a needed offensive boost with Horford out
- Marcus Morris was an eager shooting early with limited results. Same for Tatum. Both guys got good looks but were just 2-of-7.
- Some nice all around defense from both C's unit in first. Clippers have a sneaky good offense (8th best in league) but they forced into miscues (five turnovers) and couldn't find anything consistent from 3-point range early (0-of-3) that kept their scoring down.
- Semi Ojeleye continues to lack confidence on offense at this point, whether it's shooting or handling the ball. He also picked up four quick fouls in four minutes, one thanks to a hack-a-Jordan.
- Brad Stevens was undecided on a starting lineup during pregame availability but with DeAndre Jordan returning to the starting lineup for the Clippers, it's likely Aron Baynes will get the nod alongside Marcus Morris.
- Al Horford will be held out after suffering a shot to his head during the closing seconds of Tuesday's loss to the Lakers. "He was looked at by the Lakers' team physicians last night," Stevens said. "[They] determined at the time that they did not think he had a concussion. But we're going to just observe him tonight. He'll be out tonight. We just want to make sure, and make sure he's symptom free before letting him get back out on the court. And I think that obviously having one earlier in the year and having one last year, I think it's the right move."
- The Celtics have lost four straight games for the first time all year but Brad Stevens was encouraged by the strides the team made offensively on Tuesday night in the defeat. "They could do a better job of getting to the free throw line," Stevens said. "We have do a better job at just at operating offensively. We took some great strides though yesterday from where we were last week, so hopefully we can build off that."
- Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were selected to the Rising Stars Challenge for team U.S. on All-Star Weekend.