Kyrie Irving Leads Balanced Celtics Past Blake Griffin, Clippers in Easy Win
The Boston Celtics avoided a Staples Center sweep and snapped their four-game losing streak with a 113-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday evening.
It was a welcome return to form for the Celtics, who stumbled to a 108-107 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers one night earlier.
Although Boston was without All-Star center Al Horford (head) and guard Marcus Smart (hand laceration), it didn't look like it was operating with a talent deficit on the second night of a back-to-back.
Instead, the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed burned the Clippers behind a balanced effort that saw Kyrie Irving (20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and Jayson Tatum (18 points, six rebounds) lead the scoring charge.
However, it wasn't Irving and Tatum who turned the tide.
While the pair provided the team with a solid offensive foundation, unsung heroes such as Semi Ojeleye (eight points), Daniel Theis (eight points) and Terry Rozier (15 points) came up clutch and proved to be the difference.
Jared Weiss of the Celtics Wire took notice:
All told, the Celtics reserves poured in 39 points and drilled seven of the team's 14 triples. By comparison, the Clippers shot 5-of-21 from three and failed to keep pace despite attempting 17 more free throws than the opposition.
Boston also did well to contain volume-scoring savant Lou Williams (20 points on 18 shots) and power forward Blake Griffin (23 points on 21 shots)—who let his frustration get the best of him late in the fourth quarter, when he picked up a technical foul for tossing the ball toward referee Scott Wall:
"We shared it all night and played with a purpose," Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said, according to the team's official Twitter account. "Defensively, I think we did as good a job as we could've."
Boston's four-game road trip will continue Saturday night with a nationally televised showdown against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
The Clippers, who have now lost three in a row, will be back in action Friday for a road tilt against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
