The Celtics have blown fourth-quarter leads in 4 of their seven losses this season. James Harden tried his greatest so as to add to that record on Sunday.
Harden scored 18 of his 37 factors within the remaining 5 minutes — together with 9 within the final 22 seconds of regulation — because the visiting Clippers reduce a 24-point Boston result in one. However the former NBA MVP’s would-be game-tying 3-pointer clanged off the rim as time expired, permitting the Celtics to flee with a 121-118 win at TD Backyard.
“You tip your cap to Harden,” Payton Pritchard stated. “He began hitting some robust photographs. On the finish of the day, we acquired the win, and that’s all that issues.”
Jaylen Brown paced the 7-7 Celtics with 33 factors, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in his first double-double of the season. Pritchard scored a season-high 30 on 10-of-16 capturing, together with 8-for-13 from 3-point vary. Derrick White hit 4 of his eight threes — together with a clutch make late as Boston weathered Harden’s livid comeback bid — to complete with 22 factors, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Jordan Walsh, the newest addition to Boston’s beginning lineup, notched eight rebounds, three steals and a block as the first defender in opposition to Harden, who was held to 5 factors on 1-of-7 capturing within the first half earlier than erupting down the stretch.
The 4-8 Clippers have been one of many Western Convention’s greatest disappointments this season, needing double time beyond regulation Friday evening in Dallas to snap a six-game shedding streak. Tyronn Lue’s squad performed Sunday’s recreation with out six-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard and misplaced starter Derrick Jones Jr. to a knee harm in the course of the second quarter.
Boston will face one other scuffling opponent, the 1-11 Nets, on Tuesday in Brooklyn. The Nets then will go to Causeway Avenue on Friday.
“I believe we simply made some performs down the stretch,” Brown stated. “I believe our guys are getting comfy in these moments. (There are) some advantages, I assume, to taking part in a bunch of shut video games. We get some extra expertise, getting battle-tested just a little bit. So we have been capable of end some performs down the stretch.”
After making four-plus 3-pointers in simply three of his first 13 video games, Pritchard hit that quantity within the first quarter in opposition to LA, beginning 4-for-5 from distance because the Celtics constructed an early double-digit lead. White additionally transformed his first three 3-point makes an attempt.
Boston’s beginning guards have been among the many NBA’s most erratic exterior shooters over the primary three weeks of the season, however each have settled in of late. Pritchard and White went a mixed 20-for-37 (54.0%) over Boston’s final two video games.
As a crew, the Celtics shot 41.0% of their threes on Sunday, simply shy of their season-best 41.2% mark in Friday’s win over Memphis.
Brown did a lot of his first-half scoring at or close to the rim — together with a pair of and-one layups in transition — but in addition added to his rising resume because the NBA’s foremost midrange shot-maker this season. Brown, the league chief in midrange baskets made per recreation, hit a turnaround jumper from the foul line and two lengthy twos, serving to the Celtics carry a 63-49 lead into halftime.
Many gamers and groups, together with the Celtics, have deemphasized midrange capturing in recent times in favor of higher-percentage dunks/layups and higher-scoring 3-pointers. However these photographs have been a weapon for Brown this season as he spearheads the Celtics’ offense with out injured co-star Jayson Tatum.
Brown entered Sunday capturing a career-best 53.2% on midrange area objectives and 62.1% from between 15 and 19 toes, per NBA participant monitoring. No NBA participant has made extra photographs per recreation from both distance this season.
His contact across the rim wavered later within the recreation, nonetheless, and he missed six of his seven 3-point makes an attempt.
“I simply missed a bunch of photographs on the rim tonight, a bunch of layups,” Brown stated. “I ponder what number of layups I missed tonight. Simply not an important recreation for me.”
Pritchard threatened to place the sport out of attain with 4 extra 3-pointers within the opening 4 minutes of the second half, however a 15-2 Clippers run reduce Boston’s lead from 22 factors to 11.
Harden, largely contained by Walsh and Baylor Scheierman till halftime, got here alive with 14 factors within the third quarter. The Celtics additionally struggled to maintain the Clippers off the offensive glass; one-third of the 36 factors LA scored within the quarter have been of the second-chance selection.
The Clippers trailed 90-85 getting into the ultimate interval. Free throws from Bogdan Bogdanovich made it a three-point recreation. Then, Boston recovered.
Brown stole a Bogdanovic cross, grabbed an offensive rebound to arrange a Neemias Queta layup, after which poured in 11 factors within the subsequent three minutes to assist the Celtics rebuild a double-digit benefit.
Factors by Harden on three straight possessions acquired LA again to inside three, however the Clippers couldn’t discover the equalizer. Queta (14 factors, 9 rebounds, three assists) helped halt the rally with a make on the rim, adopted by a robust contest on the different finish that sprung Walsh for a transition alternative. Walsh was fouled on his layup try and made each free throws.
These have been simply his third and fourth foul photographs of the season for the defensive-focused Walsh, and simply probably the most pressure-packed of the 18 he’s tried in his NBA profession.
White then drilled a 3-pointer — his first since early within the second quarter — to make it 115-105 with 1:29 remaining. Harden drew a three-shot foul on Walsh a minute later that made it 115-112.
Brown flushed what seemed to be a game-sealing dunk on the following journey, however Harden nonetheless had two extra 3-pointers in him. Late-game free throws by White and Pritchard proved to be simply sufficient cushion for Boston, as Harden’s remaining try on the buzzer, which might have pressured time beyond regulation, missed the mark by inches.
Different observations:
— Sam Hauser performed simply seven minutes for Boston, by far his fewest in any recreation this season, ending with no factors on 0-for-3 capturing. A characteristically dependable shooter early this season, Hauser has made simply 5 of his 34 threes (14.7%) and 1 of 6 twos over the Celtics’ final seven contests. He’s scored in double figures simply twice this season, and never since Oct. 29.
— Anfernee Simons additionally posted his first goose egg in a Celtics uniform, going 0-for-3 with two turnovers in his 12 minutes off the bench. Scheierman (plus-12) was the one Boston reserve to report a optimistic plus/minus within the win.
— The great from Luka Garza: 13 factors on 5-of-6 capturing, plus three offensive rebounds. The dangerous: Boston’s backup heart was a minus-14 and fouled out after simply 14 minutes of flooring time.
