Final: Clippers 115, Celtics 96 - Cold shooting night turns into disaster for second straight home loss

BOSTON CELTICS vs. LA CLIPPERS

7:00 p.m.

Line: Boston -7.5

INJURIES

Boston: Kristaps Porzingis (OUT, ankle)

Clippers: Ivica Zubc (OUT, calf), Moussa Diabate (OUT, hand)

NOTES

- Joe Mazzulla said he doesn't expect an extended absence for Kristaps Porzingis, though he wouldn’t comment specifically on the severity of the ankle sprain. 

- The Clippers lead the NBA in 3-point percentage (39.8%), rank fourth in plus/minus differential (6.2), fifth in FG% (49.6), and are tied for fifth in steals per game (8.0).

LAST TIME

Celtics 145, Clippers 108 - December 23: Jrue Holiday paced the Celtics early, and then Jayson Tatum took over for 10 points to build a seven point lead. The 3-pointers were falling in the second quarter, briefly pushing the lead to 21 before settling at 17. Jaylen Brown scored seven straight points to start the third to push it to 25, and it got to 35 after a big run later in the third. It dropped into the 20s heading into the fourth, but that was short lived, and the Clippers never threatened.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Attacking mismatches (without getting bogged down): Without Porzingis, the Clippers can switch a lot more to make use of their perimeter length. The Celtics do a great job of finding mismatches in those situations, but they can’t get bogged down in hunting for them. 

“We have to play faster, create space and just have to go to a different play-call frequency,” Mazzulla said before the game. “I think that’s the thing that’s really interesting about our team with these back-to-backs and some games guys being out is we’ve been able to go to different stuff vs. different lineups and different coverages and I think we’re growing in that area as a team.”

2. Run!: Like Joe said, the pace has to be there. The Clippers are a deliberate team, playing at one of the slowest paces in the league. James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George all want to play a slower style, so make them uncomfortable by pushing them and forcing them to guard in transition. 

“A few times (in the loss to Boston in December) we got back, we didn't get matched, Jayson got a couple of threes, White got a couple of threes,” Ty Lue said before the game. “And so we just got to make sure we getting back, we getting matched… and the other thing we got to do a better job of is shrinking the floor, protecting the paint, and then getting back out the shooters.”

3. Attack the rim: Let’s test Lue’s directive out, shall we? There's no Ivica Zubac, so they’ll be relying on Mason Plumlee and Daniel Theis. If the Celtics can get Plumlee in foul trouble, maybe they can benefit from the ‘War on Theis’ for once. 

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.