LOS ANGELES -- Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 113-102 win over the Clippers in quickie form.
HEADLINES
No Smart, no Horford, no problem: The Celtics were down to 11 healthy players in uniform after Marcus Smart (hand laceration) and Al Horford (potential concussion symptoms) were late scratches. Four of those 11 players were rookies, and one was on a 10-day contract. Boston responded to those depth issues by getting contributions across nearly the entire roster. Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with a team-high 20 points, but eight different Celtics scored eight or more points in the impressive road win.
floh•ter pic.twitter.com/nQdPdVjhuf
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 25, 2018
Losing streak snapped:
The Celtics let one game slip away in Los Angeles on Tuesday night against the Lakers, but Wednesday, they delivered a far more complete two-way performance than we’ve seen in weeks from this group. Despite dealing with a huge free throw discrepancy in the first half, and foul trouble for several bigs, the Celtics weathered the storm by moving the ball well (25 assists), attacking the offensive glass (16 second-chance points) and slowing down the Clippers bigs. It was huge victory without two of their best defensive pieces, and much needed, considering a trip to Golden State looms on Saturday night.
TURNING POINT
Semi for THREE ? pic.twitter.com/DIZEjyfaz1
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 25, 2018
TWO UP
Kyrie Irving:
The All-Star led the Celtics in three key categories, piling up 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a well-rounded offensive performance. The Celtics didn’t have a great shooting night overall (41 percent) but the offense flow was much better with Irving active in setting the table for his teammates. The point guard could get his when he needed to, but the offense was better served overall with him making his teammates threats to score.
Irving splits the defense, JB comes down with the dunk pic.twitter.com/Bnht6gA5Ao
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 25, 2018
Aron Baynes:
The veteran center was having a rough month of January overall and he found a bit of offensive rhythm on a night the Celtics needed it with Horford sidelined. Baynes was 6-of-8 from the field, hitting a number of midrange jumpers while also finishing with authority in the restricted area with a couple of dunks. He played great defense on Blake Griffin (8-of-21 from field) as well despite having his minutes limited due to foul trouble.
BAYNES ? pic.twitter.com/r5BTwLTaqf
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 25, 2018
TWO DOWN
Jaylen Brown:
The 21-year-old was the lone weak spot in the starting lineup, missing 8-of-10 shot attempts on the night. He got to the free-throw line a team-high six times, but he also turned the ball over a team-high three times. With three misses from 3-point range on the night, Brown’s shooting in the month of January from beyond the arc is down to 23 percent. He’s in a clear funk right now on offensive end.
Doc Rivers:
The head coach tried to hide Milos Teodosic on Jayson Tatum for multiple possessions in the second and third quarters. The point guard could not stick with the 19-year-old rookie, who got going from inside and out thanks to the easy defensive assignment. Rivers had to make a choice on where to hide Teodosic, but putting him on Boston’s second best scorer wasn’t a smart move.
TOP PLAY
ROOK pic.twitter.com/ZanJg8KLcS
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 25, 2018
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
A very important night for depth pieces with the trade deadline looming:
With the trade deadline just two weeks away and the Celtics floundering heading into Wednesday night, the front office got a nice long look at almost every piece of the roster, and nearly everyone delivered. Whether it was Baynes snapping out of a funk, Shane Larkin and Terry Rozier playing with energy on both ends or Semi Ojeleye knocking down some 3-point shots, everyone showed their value in some form. That was an important showing for this group, particularly on the offensive end after the second unit had struggled throughout the past month. While replacement options will still be explored, Wednesday night was a reminder that sticking with the current roster might not be the worst idea.
A team meeting actually worked?
There’s been turmoil across the NBA over the past few days in places like Cleveland and Washington, but it was revealed on Wednesday night that the Celtics had a team meeting of their own on Tuesday, ahead of a loss to the Lakers. The open forum did not lead to a win that night, but there’s no question the Lakers’ loss was a step in the right direction after an ugly three-game homestand in Boston. On Wednesday night, the team managed to put together the pieces on both ends in a much-needed win.
Here’s Irving on the impact of it:
“I’m trying to think about the right thing to say before it gets misconstrued: Team meetings, (they) happen all the time. We could call every time we meet a team meeting. And throughout your professional career, there are going to be times where you’re tested. And for us it was things that we can control and everyone being great at their role, and us collectively coming together even better as a group. When you’re hitting a lull of losing games you can tend to go your own direction and try to figure it out on your own. For us, we have great leadership at the top with Brad, and he echoes a message to us leaders on the team, and then we go out there and try to maximize that opportunity of getting better every single day. And I think that we did a great job of just putting everything out on the table. And it’s just about being professional and going out there and executing.”