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Clippers Vs. Celtics Recap: Clippers buried under an avalanche of threes
The Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t stop the Boston Celtics from downtown as they dropped their second game in a row, 145-108.
Summary
Early afternoon starts have not been historically kind to the Clippers. Prior to Saturday, the last time they had a 12:30 PM start this season was back on Dec. 2 against the Golden State Warriors when they found themselves in a 20+ point hole before mounting a furious comeback in the second half.
The Clippers were not able to follow a similar script against the visiting Celtics. They had the get down big by halftime part taken care of as they trailed 69-53. But the second half was just a continued barrage of three-pointers from the Celtics.
The Celtics offense was a point of emphasis for the Clippers coming into the game.
“They shoot a lot of threes, they lead the league in three-point attempts and all their guys can shoot,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. “Coming into the game we talked about that, we discussed it, when you think they’re gonna shoot it, they’re gonna shoot it. . .I think they’re second to last in the league in getting to the basket. We know they’re gonna shoot threes and we just didn’t a good job defensively or offensively as well.”
Overall, the Celtics shot 25-53 (47.2 percent) from three-point range. The Clippers just couldn’t stop the three-point onslaught. It didn’t help that they couldn’t rebound, couldn’t get back in transition defensively and could sustain consistent offense.
The Clippers also received a double-dose of bad news prior to tip-off. Not only were they going to be short-handed as Kawhi Leonard was set to miss his second straight game due to a hip injury, but the Celtics welcomed Jayson Tatum back in the lineup after one-game absence.
Tatum carved up the Clippers to the tune of 30 points on 9-16 shooting, including 5-10 from three-point range and one thunderous poster dunk over Daniel Theis.
After the game though, Lue made it clear that the team cannot let these last two losses make them forget about the cohesiveness and chemistry they were able to build during the winning streak. The Clippers will have a chance to snap this mini-losing streak as the Charlotte Hornets come to town on Dec. 26.
Notes
-Kawhi Leonard missed his second consecutive game with a hip injury and is considered day-to-day. While Clippers fans may be thinking ‘here we go again’ in the back of their minds, this particular ailment doesn’t appear to be serious. In any case, Leonard is extremely important to the Clippers and their margin for error without him is thin.
Clippers Vs. Celtics Recap: Clippers buried under an avalanche of threes
David Yapkowitz