Celtics collapse vs. Clippers
Lose 28-point lead, Kyrie to injury
Doc Rivers was admittedly impressed by the wealth of talent when he started to look in earnest at the Celtics lineup this week.
“I started looking at their second unit and I was like, oh my goodness,” said the Clippers coach. “But it’s only one ball, only five guys that
CLIPPERS CELTICS 123 112
get to play at a time.”
Sometimes the Celtics, often locked in isolation mode last night after Kyrie Irving left in the second quarter with a sprained right knee, still have to remember this.
After leading by as many as 28 points against a Clippers team playing four new players as a result of various trades, the Celtics succumbed to ramped up defensive pressure in the second half as well as their own inability to move the ball in a 123-112 loss at the Garden.
The loss of Irving left the team searching in vain for a consistent shooter, despite the Celtics placing seven players in double figures.
After a strong stretch in which they had won 9-of-10 games, the Celtics have now lost two straight — both to Los Angeles teams.
Landry Shamet, fresh off the trade wire from Philadelphia, hit the second of back-to-back 3-pointers with 6:42 left for a 100-100 tie, triggering a number of boos in the crowd.
The Celtics went into a timeout, came out of it with a Jayson Tatum turnover, and fell behind on a Danilo Gallinari step-back jumper. Daniel Theis converted a Marcus Smart pass, but the next time down Tatum turned it over again, this time with a charge.
Though the Clippers were now firing blanks, they got the ball back due to a Theis charge and, again following a Jaylen Brown missed trey, Shamet dialed in again from downtown, this time with a four-point play with 3:24 left for a 106-102 lead.
Gordon Hayward hit from downtown, but Gallinari matched him for a 109-105 Clippers lead. Hayward hit a turnaround out of the post, but an unguarded Patrick Beverley hit a corner trey. Hayward then got the ball picked away by Montrezl Harrell, who drove the floor for a transition dunk and a 113-107 lead.
Tatum came out of a timeout with a 3-pointer with 1:22 left, only for Beverley to go back to the same spot for another 3-pointer and a 117110 lead with 1:22 left.
This time Al Horford lost the ball, and Lou Williams converted twice from the line for a 119-112 lead with 1:25 left.
The Celtics started the third quarter with a 21-point lead, then sank into a morass of poor shooting and four turnovers, enabling the Clippers to pull within five points (86-81) on a quarterending 8-2 run.
After their highest-scoring half of the season, the Celtics followed up with a 12-point third quarter. Shamet cut the Celtics lead to 87-84 with 11:35 left with a 3-pointer.
That seemed to momentarily wake them up, with Brown and Brad Wanamaker converting transition drives for a 91-84 lead with 10:14 left.
But the Celtics couldn’t open ground, with threepoint plays from Harrell and Williams — the latter cutting the Celtics lead to 97-94 with 8:02 left.
The Celtics finally breathed a little with 7:22 left, when Smart hit Tatum with a bullet pass for a 10094 lead.
The boos started with 6:41 left, when Shamet hit his second of back-to-back 3-pointers, tying the game at 100-100.
Irving, who appeared to injure his right leg, and left for the trainer’s room with four minutes left in the first half, had 14 points for his trouble. He did not return.
And the Celtics, with their 74-53 halftime lead, had just recorded their highest-scoring half of the season on 50 percent shooting, including 58.3 from downtown.
Comfortable with their lead, and now without Irving, the Celtics played poorly enough over the first 2:02 of the third quarter for Brad Stevens to call a disappointed timeout.
His team had led by as many as 28 points, and their edge had been whittled down to 17.
The Celtics came out of the timeout with a 4-0 run, but quickly went cold, stopped moving the ball, and the Clippers took extreme advantage with a 16-4 run that cut the Celtics lead to 82-73.