Celtics squeak out 121-118 win over Clippers
The Celtics defeated the Clippers 121-118 in a game that went down to the wire. They controlled the game for all 48 minutes, never trailing at any point. With this win the Celtics are now back to .500 with a 7-7 record.
Jordan Walsh would make his second start of the season, once again taking Josh Minott's spot as the fifth starter. In the first quarter, the Celtics would shoot lights out, scoring 37 points on 52/50 shooting splits. Payton Pritchard led the way with 12 points, with all 4 of his made shots being threes.
Offensive rebounding played a big part in the team's early success, grabbing 5 offensive rebounds for 9 second-chance points in the first quarter.
On defense, the Celtics played average, allowing 30 points on 45/62 shooting splits. Fouling was a problem early, committing 4 personal fouls, which led to 7 free throws, a problem that would continue as the game went on.
In the second, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown did a lot of the heavy lifting, combining for 17 of the team's 26 points. They hounded the glass once again, grabbing 6 more offensive rebounds, but this time failed to convert, scoring just 2 second-chance points.
The defense was much better in the second, holding the Clippers to just 19 points on 35/9 shooting splits. The Clippers bench gave the starters a big boost in the first quarter, but the Celtics did not allow that to happen again, holding them to just 7 points.
Going into halftime, the Celtics lead 63-49. They recorded 17 assists to just 5 turnovers, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, and made 9 threes, all with the "big 3" of Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White combining for 45 points.
The third quarter would be the worst of the game, losing 36-27 with the offense coming to a halt. In the first 3:35 to open the half, the Celtics would go on a 16-5 run, giving themselves a 79-55 lead. In this stretch, Payton Pritchard would score 12 points, going 4/4 from three.
After this hot start to the third, the Clippers would finish the quarter 30-11, cutting the deficit to 90-85 heading into the fourth. Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and Neemias Queta all struggled, going 3/16 for just 6 points. For the Clippers it was the opposite. James Harden and Ivica Zubac did most of the damage, scoring 24 of the 36 points.
In the third quarter, the fouling problems got even worse. Eight personal fouls were committed, which led to the Clippers attempting 12 free throws in the quarter.
Jaylen Brown and James Harden would have a duel in the fourth, with Harden scoring 18 and Brown scoring 13. The game was nip and tuck until the very end, with turnovers and offensive rebounding being the Clippers downfall.
The Celtics had 7 second-chance points and 10 points off turnovers in the fourth, which ended up being the key difference. Despite losing the quarter 33-31, the Celtics were able to hang on at the end of the game.
The good
Payton Pritchard was the best player on the floor in a game with James Harden and Jaylen Brown sharing the floor. He finished with 30 points on 10/16 from the field and 8/13 from three.
While it was not his most efficient game, Jaylen Brown scored 33 points. When called upon in the fourth quarter, he answered the bell once again with 13 points.
Luka Garza was the only sign of life for the bench unit, scoring 13 of the 16 points from the bench. Offensive rebounding was massive in this game. The Celtics grabbed 20 offensive boards for 20 second-chance points.
Winning the turnover margin was the biggest in-game win. They forced 14 turnovers for 27 points off turnovers for the game while committing just 6 of their own.
Jordan Walsh showed more promise in his minutes, despite the low scoring total. Walsh grabbed 2 offensive rebounds along with 3 steals and a block. It will be a situation to monitor on who gets the start between Josh Minott and Jordan Walsh.
The team shot the three well for the entire game. Taking 39 three-point attempts may be low for this team, but they were efficient, shooting 16/39 from three.
Joe Mazzulla pulled the plug early on Simons and Hauser. Both shot 0/3 and played a combined 18:42. With nothing outside of shooting to offer, Mazzulla opted to go with the more unproven commodities.
The bad
The team is going to defend while fouling. It was yet another night racking up 20 or more fouls, this time with 21. This led to 30 free throw attempts for the Clippers, which was a big reason why they were still in the game late.
As good as Luka Garza was on the offensive side of the ball, he was equally bad on defense. Garza fouled out while playing just 14 minutes.
While the Celtics rebounded the ball well on the offensive end, they were not able to consistently capitalize on their second-chance opportunities. The Clippers scored two more second-chance points despite having half as many offensive rebounds with 10. Neemias Queta was the biggest example of this, grabbing 6 offensive boards but finished shooting 7/16 for 14 points.
Conclusion
This was the second win in a row to get back to .500. Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard were the main catalysts in the offense's success, along with offensive rebounding and points off of turnovers. Things such as fouling and a thin bench are now simply flaws the Celtics have but were able to overcome it in this one. The Celtics will now fly to Brooklyn to take on the Nets in hopes to get back over .500.
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