Final: Celtics 121, Clippers 118 - Brown, Pritchard, hold off Harden's late run

BOSTON CELTICS (6-7) vs L.A. CLIPPERS (4-8)

Regular season game 14, 

TD Garden, 3:30 p.m. - NBC Sports Boston

SCHEDULE ADVANTAGE: Boston. The Celtics have had three days off at home. The Clippers played a double overtime game Friday night in Dallas.

INJURIES

Boston: Jayson Tatum (OUT-Achilles)

L.A.: Kawhi Leonard (OUT-ankle), Bradley Beal (OUT-hip)

OFFICIALS

Sean Wright (#4)    JB DeRosa (#14)    Phenizee Ransom (#70)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. James Harden (and Jordan Walsh defending him): As I mentioned in yesterday’s notebook, Harden is coming off a career-high 51 minutes against Dallas, so I’m curious to see how he’s recovered. He was incredible in that game, so it’s possible he will use it as a springboard for a heater. But it’s also possible that, at his age especially, he’ll be off in this one. Walsh will have his work cut out for him against a notorious foul-grifter who will probably lean on those tricks to get his tired body to the line and score. Luckily for Boston, they’ll have Josh Minott at the ready as another big wing to throw at Harden, so it’s not the end of the world if Walsh gets into foul trouble, but I’d still like to see him handle that assignment well. 

I’m also assuming Jaylen Brown will take some time on Harden, which makes the foul grift more important to avoid. I’d rather Brown stay off the ball so he can help or switch.

2. Ivica Zubac (and Neemias Queta defending him): Zubac isn’t off to the best start in the world, and I’d love to see it stay that way. He is struggling with double teams this season, so I wonder if the Celtics will throw some late help that way to force some turnovers. Again, I’m worried about fouls because if Queta gets a couple of early ones, it could be a big Zubac game against the guys behind him in the depth chart. 

I’ll throw out a wildcard defender against Zu: Xavier Tillman. 

3. Pace: These are the two bottom teams in the league in pace in terms of possessions per 48 minutes, but the Clippers are a truly slow team. They are last in transition frequency as well, while the Celtics are 18th. So Boston is still trying to run, but when they get into the half court offense, they really slow it down. 

So test the Clippers’ mettle by trying to run as much as possible, especially since they're coming off that double OT game. Run and see if they’ll just pack it in. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.