Review: Boston Celtics stave off LA Clippers comeback

Jamal Crawford said, “You have to play perfect, no question about it. They (the Celtics) have championship grit. They’ve been there before. They know how to control possessions. And we did a good job fighting back to give ourselves a chance. We just dug ourselves into too much of a hole.”

The LA Clippers almost pulled off a amazing comeback versus the Boston Celtics, but Paul Pierce’s three pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining put the game away, 106-104. They were down 19 at the half after scoring just 10 points in the second quarter. Down 15 to start the fourth, the Clipps made a valiant comeback by outscoring the Celtics 27-14 in the fourth, but it came up short as they ultimately fell to the Celtics, who improved to 24-23 to climb above .500.

12 of those fourth quarter points came from Jamal Crawford as he finished with 23 points off the bench.

“He’s got the fractured nose, but we got him a protective mask. Unless there’s complete discomfort, we expect him to play.” said Del Negro of Crawford.

Jamal said, “It was just too uncomfortable (of the mask he had to play with) [Trainer] Jasen Powell did such a good job putting it together that I feel bad taking it off, but it was just so uncomfortable at certain points I just had to take it off and take my chances.”

The Clippers pressured the Celtics into 13 turnovers in the second half, which fueled their comeback. “They got a big run on us. We tried to make some changes and things, but just have [Eric] Bledsoe as the point, so we’ve just got to do a better job kind of controlling tempo and taking care of the basketball. The turnovers are what did us in tonight”, said coach Del Negro

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 22 points on 7-16 shooting. His strong play in the second half helped stave off the comeback by the Clippers. He scored 15 of his 22 in the second half, and made the three which put the game away. “He hit tough, step-back three at the [shot-clock] buzzer,” Matt Barnes said. “That’s what he does. He’s a great player and he hit the shot when it mattered.” Pierce was 4 of 6 from downtown.

Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 5 rebounds. Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa had 14 points each and Jason Terry added 13. “Balance is the formula for our success, you know we got to do it by committee. Obviously we got two of our key parts down, but again, spreading the wealth. We got to make sure everyone gets involved, everybody’s into the game”, Terry said.

Blake Griffin had 20 points and 11 rebounds and five assists with some acrobatic finishes in traffic. Caron Butler added 18. Eric Bledsoe gave them 23 points with 10 assists and 7 rebounds. He must be the best backup point guard in the NBA. And the only reason he’s a backup is because he’s on the same team as Chris Paul. The Clippers are now 2-5 in Paul’s absence over the last seven games.

Of the absence of Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups, coach Del Negro said, “It’s a daily thing. They both worked out yesterday. It’s a day-to-day thing right now. They are both feeling better, but there’s really no timetable. Of course we want them back as soon as possible, but we want to protect them, and make sure when they come back they are feeling a lot better.”

Their replacement, Eric Bledsoe, had been shooting poorly, only 25% for the season. But he stepped up in this one. “I work on my shot a lot,” Bledsoe said. “Fortunately, it fell for me today. [Assistant Coach Robert Pack] tells me all the time don’t worry about that shot. Take the next one. You’ve got to take the next one with confidence and know you’re going to make it.”

Rumour mill is churning with reports of a possible Kevin Garnett trade to the Clippers. Garnett has a no trade clause on his contract, so he can veto against a trade if he wants. Although if it came to it, he would jump at the chance to play on one of the best teams in the NBA, as opposed to the Celtics who only climbed above .500 yesterday for a 24-23 record. There are few big men who could teach Blake Griffin better than Kevin can.

“We beat a heck of a team, and I’m very happy with that,” Doc Rivers said, “but in my mind we can be better, much better, than we were today.” Maybe the way to be better is to offload Kevin Garnett. The Clippers could start KG at center and use DeAndre Jordan to keep the Big Ticket from straining too much. The trade deadline is on February 21. Expect some shake-ups around the league.

Here are the Clippers’ highlights: