In their first game out east this season, the L.A. Clippers ended their two-game skid, downing the Boston Celtics 91-82 Wednesday night. Playing a team-high 38 minutes while on a “minutes restriction,” Marcus Morris Sr. led the way for L.A., putting up 23 points (9-21 FG, 5-6 FT), 10 rebounds, and two assists. Back in his backyard, Terance Mann came up clutch for the Clippers, adding in 17 points (7-11 FG, 2-4 3PT), five rebounds, and three assists. Eric Bledsoe stepped up his play once again with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown tallied 30 points (13-36 FG, 1-13 3PT), eight rebounds, and two steals. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Celtics game recap.

Summary

It was a promising opening frame for the Clippers, who after conceding the early momentum in each of their last two affairs, managed to hold a two-possession lead this time out. With the severe lack of shot creators and facilitators available, what almost singlehandedly carried the LAC offense here was Marcus Morris Sr.’s mid-range mastery, which looked as sharp as it did back in Game 5 of the conference finals. Noted Lowell, Massachusetts native Terance Mann looked amped up out of the gates as well, supporting Mook with seven points of his own on 3-for-3 shooting. Down low, Ivica Zubac did his thing both contesting shots without fouling and cleaning the glass. Perhaps the biggest difference in the period, however, was Boston showing who they are as the league’s 22nd ranked 3-point shooting team — going 2-for 9 from deep. After one, LAC held a 26-21 lead.

Towards the tail end of the first, the Clippers’ offense was almost exclusively centered on getting Morris Sr. the ball and getting out of his way. Well, once Senior sat down to start the second, it’s no surprise that Boston began to go on a run. LAC trotted out a Xavier Moon-Luke Kennard-Amir Coffey-Justise Winslow-Serge Ibaka lineup that was all out of sorts offensively. As to be expected, the guys out there tried to find that balance of making the right play and getting aggressive for themselves, but it amounted to a lot of one-and-done possessions and plays where they just couldn’t connect with each other. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown started to get loose, scoring 11 in the period to fuel a 16-point turnaround for the Celtics. About midway through the second with the Clippers down 30-34, Morris Sr. and Zubac returned to right the ship almost immediately. The rest of the way, Coffey and the starters went on a 17-6 run, knocking down quality looks within the fast-paced offense while the Celtics continued to shoot 0-5 from three. At the break, the Clippers took a 47-40 advantage back to the locker room.

With the starters out there, the Clippers looked good and took a 55-45 lead in the period’s opening minutes. After Tyronn Lue sat Eric Bledsoe, however, things got ugly fast once again as Boston used the point guard-less LAC turnovers to spark a quick 12-2 run. Soon enough, things got even weirder, however, as the shorthanded Clippers opted to go small and got rewarded for it. With a Moon-Kennard-Mann-Coffey-Winslow lineup, it appears there was just the right amount of chaos for it to work. While the free-flowing makeshift-Clipper offense found the right guys at the right time, the Celtic bench somehow could not find ways to score against Mann and Winslow inside. The defining play of the frame was Winslow getting a stop on Brown at the rim before pushing it up to hit Mann in the corner, who swung it for a wing Coffey 3. Heading into the final frame, the Clippers were out in front 69-63.

In what was already a game featuring the “not-so-Clippers take on the not-so-Celtics,” the two teams combined for 13-for-48 shooting from the field to close. It was truly not a fun finish to watch, but the Clippers got it done mostly by watching Boston brick three after three. While Brown rightfully established himself as the most talented player on the floor up to this point, Morris Sr. and Bledsoe stepped in as the closers for the contest, combining for 17 of LA’s 22 points in the fourth.

Clippers vs. Celtics Game Notes

  • Rusty Rotations: Going into this one, Lue mentioned that it’s been tough to keep the offense rolling for 48 minutes with Bledsoe being the one dependable primary ball-handler out there. Well, hopefully, Reggie Jackson can make his return soon because that was exactly the case again tonight. The Luke-and-Mook stagger really only worked once Luke had Mann out there as well with the bench unit, so Lue’s adjustment there definitely saved LAC in the third. Amir Coffey was prioritized as the first sub off the bench in this one, and rightfully so, as he brought some much-needed stability on both ends.
  • Moon’s Shot: With more meaningful minutes for Xavier Moon in this one, it’s clear he has more work to do to stand where Clipper-legend Yogi Ferrell once did. In all seriousness though, while Moon could not get one to drop tonight, he did do a good job of pushing the ball up and not hesitating overall.
  • No Iso Joe?: Admittedly, I have not watched Joe Johnson play this season outside of a quick highlight montage on Instagram. As much as Johnson might be washed, however, his storied past against the Clippers leads me to believe he could’ve provided a spark for Boston. Tonight, the Celtics went 4-for-42 (9.5%) from deep.

Up Next: On New Year’s Eve, the Clippers will visit the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Friday, Dec. 31, at 4:30 p.m. PT.

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Ralston Dacanay

Ralston Dacanay

Ralston joined 213Hoops as a game coverage writer in March 2021. A class of 2020 alum of California State University, Long Beach, he graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Finance.

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