LA Clippers blow out Celtics in ‘measuring stick’ game،
BOSTON — From Saturday's thorough, playoff-like team presentation to Paul George insisting he play through a groin injury on the second night of a row, Ty Lue saw a highly motivated LA team Clippers a few hours earlier. against the Boston Celtics.
In what Lue described as a “measuring stick” game, the Clippers led by as many as 36 points and beat the Celtics, 115-96, in a disappointed TD Garden on Saturday night.
The Clippers (30-14) are the hottest team in basketball, improving to a league-best 22-4 since Dec. 1. One of those losses was an embarrassing 145-108 home loss to the Celtics on December 23. This loss occurred without an injured Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers looking for revenge.
In their most impressive win of the season, the Clippers handed Boston its second home loss this season.
“The guys were pretty motivated,” Lue said. “…When they got to Los Angeles, they hurt us. So the guys were locked up.
“…It was a game [where] PG, we thought he might be out, but he wanted to play to see where we are. Just a measuring stick against a great team. We just wanted to see where we are. We had that in mind.”
Although the Celtics (35-11) have only lost twice at home this season, both came in consecutive games. The Celtics lost to Denver on Jan. 19, and this latest home loss occurred without an injured Kristaps Porzingis.
The Clippers held the Celtics to 36% shooting and blew the game away with a 21-0 run in the third quarter.
James Harden said it was the Clippers' best defensive performance of the season.
“Against a team that was playing really, really well,” Harden said. “Especially at home. … We still have a way to go, but it's a good test for us.”
Typically, this might be the type of game the Clippers would have struggled with in the past. It was the second night in a row following their victory in Toronto on Friday night. They are at the start of a grueling journey that will see them play seven games in 11 nights.
George played in that Toronto win while nursing a groin issue. It would have been easy for the Clippers to keep their star safe, especially against a Boston team that entered the night with the second-best record since Dec. 1 at 21-6.
But the Clippers came into this season saying they needed to take the regular season more seriously. Their stars have avoided lengthy injuries and the Clippers have found ways to win games even when they aren't playing their best. Since a 3-7 start, the Clippers are 27-7.
On Saturday, George, Harden and Russell Westbrook combined to shoot 9 of 31. George scored 17 points, but Harden had only nine and Westbrook only scored four.
But defensively, the Clippers contested shots, limiting Boston to 22 of 75 shots in the first three quarters. The Celtics got 21 points from Jayson Tatum, but Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday combined to shoot 5 of 24 and score a total of 15 points.
Leonard, who made 10 of 15 shots and finished with 26 points, agreed with Harden that the Clippers played exceptional defense. But the two-time Finals MVP is focused on getting the Clippers to a first-ever NBA Finals appearance.
“I'm happy we were able to come in and give the Celtics a loss,” Leonard said. “But it really doesn't mean anything until you get to the playoffs and you do the things we did tonight: execute, make shots, play good defense.
“It's good that we had a comeback last night coming from Toronto and winning those back-to-back games. But you have to continue to improve as the year goes on.”
