BOSTON — From Saturday’s playoff-like, detail-oriented team walkthrough to Paul George’s insistence on playing through groin pain on the second night of a back-to-back, Ty Lue saw just hours ago a very special team. Positive Los Angeles Clippers. against the Boston Celtics.
The Clippers beat the Celtics 115-96 at a disappointing TD Garden on Saturday night, leading by as many as 36 points in what Lue called a “measuring stick” game.
The Clippers (30-14) are the hottest team in basketball, improving to a league-best 22-4 since Dec. 1. One of those losses was an embarrassing 145-108 loss at home to the Celtics on December 23. That loss came with Kawhi Leonard injured and the Clippers looking for returns.
The Clippers handed Boston their second home loss of the season in one of their most impressive wins of the season.
“These guys are very motivated,” Lue said. “… When they came to L.A., they treated us very badly. So people were trapped inside.
“…it’s a game [where] PG, we thought he might be out, but he wanted to come in and see where we were at. Just the measuring stick for a great team. We just want to see where we are now. We have this idea in mind. “
Although the Celtics (35-11) have only lost twice at home this season, they were both consecutive losses. The Celtics lost to the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 19, and their most recent home loss came while Kristaps Porzingis was injured.
The Clippers held the Celtics to 36% shooting and opened the game with a 21-0 run in the third quarter.
James Harden said it was the Clippers’ best defensive performance of the season.
“Against a team that’s playing really, really well,” Harden said. “Especially at home… We still have a long way to go, but this is a good test for us.”
Normally, this might be the type of game the Clippers would have struggled with in the past. This is their second straight night following their win in Toronto on Friday night. They are at the beginning of a grueling tour in which they will play seven games in 11 nights.
George played in Toronto’s win while nursing a groin issue. It will be easy for the Clippers to keep their star, especially against a Boston team that entered the night with a 21-6 record, the second-best team since Dec. 1 achievements.
But the Clippers entered the season saying they needed to take the regular season more seriously. Their star has avoided lengthy injuries, and the Clippers have been finding ways to win games even if they aren’t playing at their best. Since a 3-7 start, the Clippers are now 27-7.
George, Harden and Russell Westbrook combined to shoot 9-for-31 from the field on Saturday. George scored 17 points, but Harden only scored 9 points and Westbrook only scored 4 points.
But on the defensive end, the Clippers challenged shooting, making 22 of 75 in the first three quarters. Jayson Tatum scored 21 points for the Celtics, but Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday combined for 5 of 24 shooting and a combined 15 points.
Leonard, who scored 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting, agreed with Harden about the Clippers’ stellar defense. But the two-time Finals MVP is focused on leading the Clippers to their first NBA Finals appearance.
“I’m glad we were able to hold the Celtics back,” Leonard said. “But it really doesn’t mean anything until you’re in the playoffs and you’re doing what we did tonight — executing, shooting, playing good defense.
“It’s nice that we’re building on that from last night coming back from Toronto and winning these back-to-back games. But you’ve got to keep getting better as time goes on.”
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