The All-Star Break has arrived and there may not be a team in the NBA that needs it more than the Boston Celtics. One game after getting torched by the Cavs for 121 points, the Celtics were a sieve once again on Wednesday night, surrendering a season-high 129 points in a 129-119 defeat to the LA Clippers at the TD Garden.
DeAndre Jordan had a season-high 30 points and 13 rebounds (11-of-14 FG), leading the charge against an undermanned Celtics team that had no answers for the Clippers (seven players in double figures). high powered attack on the wings.
Kyrie Irving had a game-high 33 points in the defeat for the hosts, who have now lost three straight and four of five overall.
GAME: No. 59 of 82:
WHO: Celtics (40-18) vs. Clippers (29-26)
WHEN: 8:00 EST
WHERE: TD Garden
RADIO: 98.5 the Sports Hub
TV: ESPN, NBC Sports Boston
Projected starters
Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Inactive: Marcus Smart (hand), and Shane Larkin (knee) are out.
Clippers
PG: Austin Rivers
SG: Avery Bradley
F: Danilo Gallinari
F: Tobias Harris
C: DeAndre Jordan
Inactive: Patrick Beverley and Jawun Evans are out.
Third Quarter Notes
- This game quickly transitioned into a good old fashioned shootout.
- Kyrie Irving did the heavy lifting, scoring 15 of Boston's 34 third quarter point, continuing his tear from the end of the second quarter.
- Elsewhere, the Celtics benefitted from balanced scoring across the board as they finally started knocking down shots as a team (52 percent overall). Eight players scored in total during the frame.
- The offense was needed since the Clippers still scored with relative ease on the opposite end of the floor. Boston kept piling up the fouls (10 free throw attempts in frame for LAC), which made stops hard to come by.
- A solid stint for Greg Monroe after Aron Baynes went to the bench for foul trouble. He had a couple nice finishes around the basket off dishes from Irving.
- Jordan (10 points, 4 rebounds) continues to be a nightmare when he gets close to the basket. He's lined up for another 20-20 night.
- It's incredible how quickly the Celtics offense turned around after looking so dreadful for the first 18 minutes of this game. Irving needs to be given the keys to the car more since it's clear he was fueling this.
- A see-saw affair with the bench units in the early going. Greg Monroe got some early run but the plug was pulled on the Monroe/Theis front line early after some transition breakdowns on D
- Lou Williams was contained nicely, but it was the Clippers frontcourt that was causing most of the issues with Gallinari using his speed/size against mismatches and DeAndre Jordan dominating on rim runs.
- Boston's offense missed the first seven shots of the quarter and were shooting below the 30 percent barrier at one point before the offense miraculously got going in the closing minutes of the frame.
- The hosts erased a 14-point deficit to four as Kyrie Irving took advantage of a Clippers defense that lacked Avery Bradley for an extended stretch. Easy layups were also available against soft resistance by the Clippers.
- Another slow start for the C's, as the Clippers jumped out to early 8-2 and 16-8 respectively over the first six minutes.
- Al Horford really tried to dominate Gallinari in the post with limited success. He bullied him well to get position but missed a couple bunnies.
- Kyrie Irving was fairly passive looking for his offense early. He did a nice job setting up Aron Baynes for a couple easy buckets around the hoop however.
- Avery Bradley continues to abuse Jaylen Brown off the dribble with his speed advantage.
- Tobias Harris gave the Celtics also sorts of headaches when he was a Pistons and he did it again in the first quarter, with a mix of strong moves to the hoop and outside shooting.
- Greg Monroe continues to be a defensive liability down low, allowing a pair of alleyoop lobs to DeAndre Jordan early in the paint.
- The biggest problem for the C's remains their offense though. They started with 33 percent shooting from the field, with no one on the roster scoring more than four points in the opening frame. Their top four scorers combined for just 10 points.
- The Clippers are 4-2 since the blockbuster trade of Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris and Boban Marjanovic.
- The Celtics have lost three of their last four games and have trailed by 26-plus points in all of those defeats.
- Doc Rivers will be making his second appearance at the TD Garden in the past four days. He flew up from Philadelphia (where the Clippers were playing on a road trip) to speak at Paul Pierce's retirement ceremony on Sunday.
- The Celtics have fallen to 22th overall in the league for team offense during their latest swoon. That's the lowest they've been in that category since the earliest stages of the season.