BSJ Game Report: Celtics 121, Clippers 118 - Celtics lose big lead, survive Harden's late heroics

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over the Clippers, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics stormed out to a 16-point lead, but the Clippers' 3-point shooting cut it to seven after the first quarter. The Celtics ramped up their defense and Jaylen Brown pushed the lead up to 18 at one point before settling at 14 at halftime. It got up to 24 before a massive Clippers run got it down to three early in the fourth. Boston got it back to double digits, but James Harden’s late flurry nearly tied it, as his last-second shot just missed.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Near disaster: We’ve seen the Celtics struggle with big leads before, and this year’s team is no stranger to fourth-quarter struggles. So in a way, it’s good to be able to use the word “near” before “disaster.” Harden scored 11 points in the final 1:17, nine of them in a 19-second stretch at the end. He was THIS close to tying it up on a perfect play at the end. 

- Slumps busted: Payton Pritchard shot 8-13 from 3 while Derrick White shot 4-8. The Celtics shot 41% from 3. Part of the team winning a game like this that they lost isn’t just a little better execution and some luck, they had to make shots, including some timely ones at the end. 

- A winning streak?: The Celtics have now won two straight and are heading into a home-and-home against the Brooklyn Nets. Two more wins to get to 9-7 isn’t out of the question. And while we’re here, they're 7-4 since their 0-3 start, so things are stabilizing somewhat for them. I don’t want to start standings-watching in November, but they are only two games behind the second-seeded Knicks, so they're still very much in the mix even with all their issues.

TURNING POINT 

The Celtics went on a 7-0 run over a little more than a minute of play to make it a 10-point game with 1:29 left. It was JUST enough pad for them to hold on and force the Clippers to play the foul game. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Payton Pritchard: He wasn’t overly thrilled with his game, but I thought he played pretty well. He at least shot well and raised his 3-point shooting by four percentage points. It was a rough start to the season, but water is starting to find its level.

“Coming into the game we talked about taking Pritchard's 3-point shots out of the game and for him to make eight and get 13 up, we just can’t allow that,” Ty Lue said after the game. “It was hard for us to battle back. But guys like that, you just can’t let them get going because he makes shots all night, and he was able to do that and that was kind of what hurt our defense a lot.”

- Jaylen Brown: His efficiency wasn’t where it needed to be. Scoring 33 points on 33 shots is a very ’90s superstar stat line, and that's not a compliment. However, he came up big in stretches that helped him and the Celtics overcome some of the mistakes. He had 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block, and just one turnover. Sure, the missed layups were sort of turnovers, but he had some very important stretches to hold the Clippers off.

- Derrick White: We’re getting back into “you know why” territory with White, which is a nice place to be. He finished with 22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots. He hit a huge 3-pointer late in the fourth as well as two clutch free throws. 

- Jordan Walsh: He’s becoming a defensive menace. Harden got hot at the end

“We saw it the other night on (Tyrese) Maxey,” Lue said. “I thought he did a great job just competing. And same thing with James, just denying him the basketball, picking him up full-court, making it tough on him. He did a great job. He did a great job and you need guys like that on your team.”

- Neemias Queta: Another very good defensive performance to go along with nine rebounds and three assists. I’m not thrilled with the 16 shot attempts, but then again, a few of them came on one play. 

He was really good defensively, and he's improving on his reads and passing. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The bench: Luka Garza gave them 13 of the 16 bench points, but he also fouled out in 14 minutes. Anfernee Simons might have had his worst game in Boston. Sam Hauser was 0-3 from deep. Josh Minott didn’t do much of anything in 11:29 of play. 

I don’t expect the bench to be very good, but they need to be more than this. 

- The fouling: The foul disparity is still a big problem for the Celtics. There are things they’ll live with, and Harden certainly drew a couple of terrible calls on Walsh, but the Clippers were +15 at the line. If they just clean up 3-5 shooting fouls, that's 6-10 free throw attempts. That's a meaningful swing.

Not to mention, the fouls really grind the game to a halt. White admitted the fouling killed their rhythm in the third quarter, and it also allows the opponent to get back and set their defense. The Celtics did a great job of running early in the game and they started allowing the Clippers to score while standing still. For a team coming off a double overtime game playing an early Sunday game, that was huge for keeping their legs fresh for the fourth-quarter comeback. 

These guys were getting to the arena today at about 9 or 10 a.m. Pacific time. If the Celtics had just maintained their momentum up 24, the fourth quarter would have been garbage time. The fouls killed that. 

Second chances: The Celtics kept that close overall, losing second-chance points by just two. But it was 12-2 Clippers in the third quarter. So L.A. was +10 on second chances and +11 at the line. The Celtics got away with one today playing like that. 

- Missed layups: The Celtics were 17-32 in the restricted area. That is abysmal. That was as big a problem as the fouls and second chances.

“Usually when you miss those, it starts a 5-on-4 at the other end, and you have a guy or two behind the defense,” Joe Mazzulla said. “So I thought our reads were pretty good. We've got to be much better when we get the ball in the paint of making those, and then regardless, we've got to sprint back.”

Missed layups might be one of the most damaging things in basketball. They almost always result in problems on the other end. This is why Brown was so down on himself. He missed four. 

“I missed a bunch of layups at the rim,” he said. “They were able to convert. I think that kind of got them going. Just shots that I gotta make or go up a little bit stronger."

- Pritchard’s ankles being broken: 

Ouch. He almost made that a literal ankle-breaker. 

“He got me good. He got me good,” Pritchard said. “It’s the first time I've gotten got like that since I don't know when, so it was a heck of a move. I'll be fine. My ankle will be fine, but he definitely made me touch earth for a second.”

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I’m not sure fouling Zubac would have been the right move on the final play. 

After the game, both Pritchard and White talked about fouling Ivica Zubac on the final play to put him on the line for two shots with Boston up three. And I get why that's a strategy once it gets to that point. 

But I don’t think it should get to that point. 

First, I think someone should have been defending the inbounds pass. Kris Dunn had to make a touchdown pass to have a chance, why wasn’t anyone on the ball to make that tough? 

Second, why were any Boston defenders behind Zubac? They're up three with 1.6 left. A two doesn’t hurt them at all. Why was he allowed to catch that so cleanly?

NOW, thirdly, I can question whether fouling made sense in that spot. I still would rather not have the Celtics in a rebounding situation with the game on the line. Yeah, a Harden 3-pointer isn’t a great option, but I think the Celtics are more likely to give up the putback, based on their recent history. 

Either way, I’m not thrilled with the defensive execution on that last play. The C’s got lucky on that one. 

- This is closer to the Celtics we expected. 

Brown, White, and Pritchard did almost all the scoring. They got good defense from their starting center and wing. Their bench was a bit of a question mark and outside of one guy, it gave them virtually nothing offensively. 

That sounds a lot like how we envisioned things before the year started, doesn’t it? 

It feels like things might be settling down a little for the Celtics. They're getting into a little bit of a regular rotation. We’re starting to see some trend lines showing up. They have plenty to work on, but the picture is starting to come into focus. 

Next Up: The Celtics visit Brooklyn on Tuesday night.