The Celtics lost to the Clippers in an overtime battle on Wednesday night. The Celtics battled, but in the end they lost 107-104. This was the first game for the Clippers where both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard played together, and they looked scary.
This was a sloppy game from both teams, as the low score shows for an overtime game. The Celtics relied on really just one guy, and that was Jayson Tatum. He played a massive role in this one, scoring 30 points and hitting the game tying three to send the game to overtime. Tatum also played well defensively, he did not let Paul George or Kawhi Leonard score a boatload.
Since Gordon Hayward’s injury, the C’s haven’t had a real problem scoring the ball, but on nights against a team as good as the Clippers, he would have been nice to have.
Kemba Walker played poorly. He shot just 4 of 17 from the field, and he also turned the ball over six times including one in crunch time when the Celtics were down by one point. He had a chance to tie the game in OT, but he had his shot blocked by Kawhi.
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart were also guys who struggled to score the ball. Smart scored 15 points, but he shot eleven three pointers and hit just one. If he hit at least one more of those, the outcome of this game is different. Jaylen Brown has been on fire this season, but like the rest of the team, he could shoot the three on Wednesday night. He shot 1-8 from three, and then 3-14 from the field.
Rebounding seemed to be an issue for Boston. Daniel Theis grabbed 14 rebounds, but nobody else excelled there. They also gave up sixteen rebounds to the 6 foot 1 Patrick Beverly.
The Celtics played poorly, but this shows that they can compete with the best teams in the league. The Clippers are an extremely talented group. The Celtics will get better once Hayward comes back, and also I don’t expect them to shoot as poorly as they did very often. They play again on Friday against the Denver Nuggets, and look for win number 12 on the year.
