INGLEWOOD — A victory against another top team would have put an exclamation mark on the league’s longest current winning streak. Instead, the Boston Celtics threw a large heap of reality on the Clippers’ feel-good run with a 146-115 defeat on Saturday.
The 31-point defeat, in front of a packed Intuit Dome, ended a six-game winning streak that began 15 days ago.
The Clippers gave themselves several chances, cutting the lead to single digits at various points, but each time the Celtics came back with big shots or forced turnovers.
The Celtics shot 55.2% (53 of 96) from the field and connected on 24 of 51 3-pointers (47.1%), much to the delight of the predominant Boston crowd.
Boston’s offensive attack was led by its two-pronged scoring tandem of Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, who torched the Clippers for a combined 79 points. Brown, an NBA Finals MVP and four-time All-Star, led Boston with 50 points, three rebounds and five assists, and White added 29 points, four rebounds and seven assists.
The Celtics’ strategy seemed to be: take care of the ball, shoot 3-pointers and get out of Brown’s way. He rolled through the Clippers for 19 points on 7-of-7 from the field and 3-of-3 from the 3-point range in the third quarter alone en route to his first 50-point game of the season.
If the lopsided loss wasn’t bad enough, or the green-clad fans, forward Derrick Jones Jr. limped off the court with 9:25 left in the game after colliding with Pritchard at midcourt. The two were chasing a loose ball when Pritchard fell on Jones’ right leg, the same leg that caused him to miss a month.
The loss spoiled the return of center Ivica Zubac, who was back in uniform for the first time in two weeks because of an ankle injury.
While he appeared to move well, Zubac was not in the starting lineup. Lue said Zubac asked to come off the bench in his first game back, but Lue stressed that the move wasn’t permanent.
“He’s our starter, but we got a good flow going, which we haven’t had all season long,” Lue said. “Just to win six games in a row, guys feeling good about themselves. And then have a guy like Zu coming back who’s been a starter since I’ve been here, sacrifice and say, ‘Listen, I know we got a good thing going. I’m willing to come off the bench and let’s ride it out from here.’”
Zubac suffered a Grade 2 sprained ankle during the first quarter of the Clippers’ victory against the Lakers on Dec. 20 and was expected to miss three weeks. But the 7-footer only missed five games – all during the Clippers’ winning streak.
Zubac said he went hard in rehab to make a quicker return. He had progressed to on-court activities last Thursday, and the team announced he would be back soon.
“Played some and it (ankle) responded well, so I felt I could play,” said Zubac, who finished with four points and seven rebounds.
The Clippers needed everyone available to have a chance to extend their streak against the Celtics. Kawhi Leonard didn’t match the energy he had displayed during their streak and finished with 22 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-8 from long-range.
James Harden also struggled and finished with 18 points and 12 assists, while John Collins had 22 points, and Jones finished with 19.
The Clippers, who had been on fire from the 3-point range, made just 15 of 38 shots.
The Clippers gave up 42 points in the first quarter, the most they have given up in a quarter since opening night against the Utah Jazz.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. Leonard and Harden couldn’t find the basket in the opening quarter against the Celtics’ defense and Collins was the Clippers’ highest scorer with eight points as Boston led 42-28.
“They change their coverages up a lot. You never get a steady diet of the same thing,” Coach Tyronn Lue said. They have a couple zones they throw … but also, they have great defenders. Derek White, Jalen Brown, Walsh, who starts, who’s a great defender. And Kata, who’s a great rim protector. So they have some great pieces.”
The game got better in the second quarter for the Clippers. Collins and Jones Jr. picked up the scoring, combining for 33 points in the first half and the Clippers began to find ways to slow Boston’s pace and managed to cut a 16-point lead to six.
Leonard made four consecutive free throws to close the gap, 64-56, with 3:34 remaining before halftime. Trailing 66-58, Collins had his shot blocked.
Hauser’s 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 11 before Harden scored on a layup with 1:07 left. Leonard followed with a 3-pointer to make it 69-63.
While the Clippers slowed the Celtics in the second quarter, they couldn’t altogether stop Brown and White, who had 20 and 23 points, respectively, in the first half en route to a 71-63 lead.
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