The Celtics got their doors blown off in LA tonight as the Clippers beat them 114-90. We all know L.A. has a high-powered offense, but their defense, ranked 6th in the league, was also a huge factor tonight. Deandre Jordan and company held the Celts to 34.8% shooting for the night.
The Clippers’ offense was firing on all cylinders early, as they shot 60% in the first quarter. It was a balanced attack, Deandre Jordan in the paint, Redick from deep & Chris Paul getting to the hoop. Boston countered with some good guard play, led by the starting duo of Thomas & Bradley. After 1Q, the Celtics were down 30-24. It would never be that close again.
LA continued to shoot lights out in the 2nd, and CP3 was the catalyst. Boston meanwhile shot 7 of 22 from the floor, but did manage to stay aggressive. They got to the FT line quite a bit, and scored 13 of their 26 second quarter points there. But the Clippers took things up another notch to open up a 67-50 halftime lead. Isaiah Thomas’ 17 first-half points prevented this from becoming a complete blowout early on, but he could only do so much. Chris Paul meanwhile had 13 points & 11 assists.
The Clippers completely dominated in the 2nd half, and this game was over long before the final horn. Boston could only muster 20 points in each of the final two quarters and simply could not slow down the Clippers for any substantial period. LA’s bench alone dropped 67 points on the Celtics.
This loss hurts in more ways than one, as with the Atlanta Hawks & Miami Heat both winning their games, Boston drops to 5th in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics now head to Portland for a 10pm game with the Blazers on Thursday.
The Green:
- Isaiah Thomas (more on him below) was the lone bright spot tonight. IT had 24 points, and went 12 of 13 from the line. I’m going to toss Marcus Smart in here too. He struggled from downtown, again, going 0 for 4. Yet during the latter part of tonight’s game he got to the rim quite a bit and looked great in the pick & roll. I’d really like to see him attack the basket more and get back to the driving, cutting offensive style he excelled at in college. Marcus had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists & 1 steal.
The Gross:
- Boston shot 34% from the field and turned the ball over 16 times
The Greenlights:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41o-_bDPNuo]
The Grid: (quick stats)
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