|
 That aside, the Los Angeles Clippers coach has a team that is
playing very well at the right time.
"If you look around the league, most of the teams right now are
gearing up, playing well, finding that rhythm going into the
playoffs, and I think we're playing pretty well right now," guard
Chris Paul said after his 21 points and 10 assists helped the
Clippers to their seventh straight win, a 119-106 decision over the
Boston Celtics.
It really wasn't that close. It did become uncomfortable.
"I wasn't really happy with how our bench played tonight," Rivers
said.
The win capped a three-game sweep of an Eastern swing that saw Los
Angeles (49-25) drub the hapless New York Knicks and Philadelphia
76ers and the scrappy Celtics by a combined 65 points. The Clippers
are winning by an average of 17.7 points during their seven-game
run.
"I don't think we've been a great travel team for the most part; in
big games, we seem to play well on the road, but we're up and down,"
Rivers said. "I thought the guys had an amazing focus when they left
(home). You could just tell that they were going to take this trip
very seriously."
Because it is that time of year.
The Clippers are missing injured guard Jamal Crawford and his
scoring off the bench. They hope to get him back.
With the Celtics purposely fouling center DeAndre Jordan, Boston got
as close as 11 late in the game but no closer.
The loss, the fifth in seven games after Boston won five straight,
stalled the Celtics' unlikely playoff bid, dropping them into ninth
place in the Eastern Conference heading into a big game at Charlotte
on Monday night. Boston (32-41) sits a half-game behind the
eighth-place Brooklyn Nets (32-40) and a half-game in front of the
Hornets (31-41). The Indiana Pacers have the same record as
Charlotte, too.
The Clippers ran to a 68-47 halftime lead -- the most points against
Boston in a first half this season -- and then came out after
halftime and drained four consecutive 3-pointers to extend the
advantage. Hitting 10 of their first 13 shots of the third quarter,
the Clippers took a 35-point lead with 4:42 left in the period.
"We didn't provide any defensive resistance at all," Celtics coach
Brad Stevens said. "Nobody has against them recently if you look at
their scores and watch them play."
Los Angeles was on top 105-79 after three quarters. All seemed safe.
The lead was 27 when the Celtics, winning a mini battle of the
benches, excited the remaining fans with an 8-0 run to cut it to 19.
Rivers called a timeout but didn't bring his starters back. When it
got down to 14, the coach made the move.
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Jordan, who finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, missed eight of
10 free throws from that point on, but his teammates bailed him out
with two offensive rebounds that led to four key points. He shot
3-for-15 from the line in the game.
Clippers guard J.J. Redick hit five of six attempts from behind the
3-point arc and scored 24 of his 27 points in the first three
quarters. Forward Blake Griffin had 21 points and nine rebounds, and
forward Matt Barnes added 18 points and seven boards as the Los
Angeles starters scored 102 of the team's 119 points.
Guard Isaiah Thomas came off the bench to lead six Celtics (four of
them reserves) in double figures with 19 points. Thomas added seven
assists. Boston center Tyler Zeller delivered 16 points.
With 5:10 left and Boston forward Kelly Olynyk at the foul line,
there was a commotion in the corner near the Clippers' bench.
Paramedics responded, and what looked to be an elderly man was
wheeled away. One report was that a fan suffered a seizure, but no
details were available.
After the game, Stevens said, "From everything I was told, it was
addressed appropriately and quickly, and hopefully, from what I was
told, the person's going to be OK and hopefully they will be.
Certainly our thoughts are with them, it puts everything into
perspective pretty quickly."
NOTES: Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers, making his second trip to TD
Garden since leaving the Celtics, said he regrets not celebrating
with his Celtics after they wrapped up the 2008 title. "I never went
into the locker room after the championship, which was the strangest
thing," he said. "I don't know why I didn't." ... The Clippers
signed G Lester Hudson to a 10-day contract and he got in for 31
seconds. The two-time MVP and three-time All-Star in the Chinese
Basketball Association is the only Division I college player to
record a quadruple-double, doing it with Tennessee-Martin. He was a
second-round draft pick of the Celtics and played 16 games for them.
... Boston G Isaiah Thomas is averaging 19.6 points in 13 games with
his new team.
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