BOSTON – The Los Angeles Clippers came into Sunday’s game against Boston as the hottest team in the NBA.
And within seconds – 42 to exact - the Celtics found out why.
That’s how long it took for the Clippers put the Celtics into a hole that only got deeper for a Boston team that came up short in losing 119-106.
Boston gave Celtics fans something to cheer about in the fourth quarter when the second unit sparked a run to cut Los Angeles’ lead to 111-94 following a 3-point play by Jonas Jerebko with 4:57 to play.
Boston, showing signs of life after looking cadaver-like for most of the game, were far from done with Gigi Datome’s 3-pointer making it a 111-97 game with 4:16 to play.
Former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers called a time-out, and had little choice but to bring in his starters who were vital in Los Angeles pushing its lead up to as many as 35 points.
And it didn’t take them long to shut down whatever momentum Boston had in the fourth which began with an 18-6 run.
Boston Celtics
Boston soon went to a Hack-a-DJ (DeAndre Jordan) who ranks among the worst free throw shooters ever – seriously.
He missed a pair with 4:15 to play, and Datome struck again with a 3-ball to make it a 111-100 game.
And again, Boston fouled Jordan and put him on the line with 3:59 to play.
And once again, Jordan missed both free throw attempts.
The Celtics continued with the intentional fouling of Jordan whose free throws seemed to look more off the mark the previous one.
For the game, he was 3-for-15 from the free throw line but still had 15 points and 14 rebounds.
With the loss, Boston (32-41) now finds itself a half game behind Brooklyn for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East and just a ½ game ahead of Indiana and Charlotte with the Hornets host the Celtics Monday night.
At the half, Boston trailed 68-47, with the 68 points allowed the most the Celtics had given up in a half this season.
This was a half that was dominated on all levels by the Clippers who have won seven straight to remain to extend the league’s longest current winning streak.
Los Angeles got double figures scoring from all five starters, with each scoring at least 15 points (Jordan).
Meanwhile, Boston struggled to score despite having a decent amount of good looks at the rim in the first half.
The Celtics did a better job in the second half at both ends of the floor, but the huge deficit they put themselves proved to be too much to come back from.
Here are some of the keys to Sunday’s game:
WHAT WORKED
Bench scoring
This continues to be the source of most of the Celtics offense and they were once again doing what they have done well all season. They finished with 59 points scored, many of which were scored in the fourth quarter.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK
Perimeter defense
Boston has been one of the best at defending the 3-point shot recently. The Clippers came in having won six straight games. During that span, the Celtics had limited opponents to just 27.1 percent on 3s which ranked second in the league during that span. The Clippers were 13-for-31 on 3s (41.9 percent) although many of those misses came when the game was well out of reach.
KEY PLAY/STRETCH
With Los Angeles ahead 111-100, DeAndre Jordan missed a pair of free throws. Clippers guard Matt Barnes was able to get the offensive rebound, and quickly scored on a short floater in the lane. That prevented the Celtics from having a chance to make it a single-digit game.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Celtics will hit the road for what should be a tough, hard-fought battle at Charlotte against the Hornets who, like Boston, has eyes on snatching one of the last playoff spots in the East.