The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers came out hot and played toe-to-toe for the entire game. Boston did manage to push their lead to 11 at one point but that didn't last very long. Jaylen Brown (18 points) carried the team early, Kemba Walker (25 points) took over later, and Robert Williams... again... made his case for more minutes with a 13 point, 8 rebound, 4 assists game.
The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard, who was originally in the starting lineup but then was scratched due to back spasms. The Clippers also lost Marcus Morris to a concussion in the second quarter.
The Celtics have won three games in a row.
WHO: Celtics (17-17) vs. Clippers (24-12)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: TD Garden
RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub
TV: TNT
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
Celtics
G: Kemba Walker
G: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Daniel Theis
C: Tristan Thompson
Clippers
G: Patrick Beverley
G: Nic Batum
SF: Paul George
PF: Kawhi Leonard
C: Serge Ibaka
LIVE COVERAGE
Fourth Quarter
- Payton Pritchard opens the quarter with a 3. He's up to 14 points on 4-7 from 3
- Celtics start on a 9-3 run, thanks in part to a Robert Williams alley oop lay in and ridiculous blocked shot
- Jayson Tatum found himself wide open in the right corner and finally drained a shot, his first 3 of the game, to give Boston their biggest lead of the game after a 7-0 run
- The Celtics last points came at the 2:59 mark when they went up 113-105. Luckily they've only given up 4 points in that stretch and lead by 4 with :28 left
- Clippers rebounding has been hurting the Celtics
- The Celtics need to get Jaylen Brown more involved. Kemba Walker is feeling it but the entire offense this quarter has been Walker and Tatum working together
- Walker is hitting his shots, though. He's up to a team-high 22 points on 6-9 shooting from 3 with 1:46 to go in the 3rd
- The Celtics defense is a little undisciplined with its rotations. A lot of scrambling.
- They ended up playing the quarter even. There are a ton of points on the board. Someone is going to have to get a stop at some point
- Robert Williams is making an immediate impact catching lobs as usual
- Jayson Tatum woke up, scoring 5 quick points and the Celtics open the second on a 14-9 run
- The Clippers switched to a zone and the Celtics offense slowed down a little bit, but Payton Pritchard's 3-point shooting helped the Celtics hang on
- Paul George continued his dominance in the second quarter in the run to tie the game at 55
- Marcus Morris took an inadvertent elbow to the head from Jaylen Brown and was taken to the locker room. He had 10 points on 4-7 shooting in 15 minutes for L.A.
- The Celtics got into the half shooting 53.2%, the Clippers 58.1%. Paul George has 21
- Jaylen Brown and Tristan Thompson each start the game 3-3, combining for 14 points
- Celtics start the game 9-10 from the field
- Both teams came out hot. They're a combined 19-27 and tied at 23 with 4:29 still to play in the first
- Boston used a 7-0 run to go up 5
- Jaylen Brown (14 points) and Paul George (12) are locked in a duel
- Celtics vs. Clippers spread: Clippers -4.5
- Celtics vs. Clippers over-under: 220.5 points
- Celtics vs. Clippers money line: Clippers -181, Celtics +161