After back-to-back wins against Utah and Sacramento, the Boston Celtics closed out their west coast road trip with a 146-115 win against the Los Angeles Clippers, who rode into the contest on a 6-game win streak. It was a season-high in points for the Celtics, who moved to 22-12 on the season.
Boston was led in scoring by Jaylen Brown with 50 points on 18-of-26 shooting, while LA was led by John Collins and Kawhi Leonard with 22 apiece. Derrick White also added 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while Anfernee
Simons added 15 off the bench. Jordan Walsh had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Outside of Jayson Tatum, the Celtics had a clean bill of health entering the matchup, while the Clippers saw the return of Ivica Zubac, though their starting lineup featured Brook Lopez at center alongside James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Kris Dunn and John Collins. Boston made its own change to the lineup, putting Sam Hauser in the starting five in place of Jordan Walsh, while the rest remained constant with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta.
Boston’s starters came out firing on all cylinders in their first stint, shooting 9-of-12 with four 3-pointers and leading 22-15 before the first subs came in. Brown was making an impact all across the floor, hitting his first four shots for an early nine points, while taking a hold of the Leonard assignment on defense.
Hauser, in his sixth start of the season, hit his first two shots for five points, burying a corner three and a turnaround jumper.
The Celtics continued to throttle the Clippers in the first quarter, finishing 7-of-14 on 3-pointers and 62.5% from the field for a 42-28 lead. With their bench on the floor, they got an immediate lift from Anfernee Simons, who knocked down a pair of transition threes, and from Luka Garza, whose defense on Zubac earned the Celtics a stop and another fast break opportunity that ended in a walk-up White three for a 37-23 lead with just over a minute remaining.
Boston’s fiery shooting continued on in the second quarter behind a scorching start from White, who crossed the 20-point barrier with more than four minutes to spare in the half. The Clippers kept pace thanks to a magnet ball performance from Collins, who hit his first eight shots for 20 first-half points. Collins’ first miss was because of a Jordan Walsh block, which led to an open corner three for Hauser.
Both teams shot over 50% from the floor in the first half, but Boston’s edge on free throws and 3-pointers helped them take a 71-63 lead into the break. White and Brown both scored in double figures by the end of the first quarter, and by halftime, Brown had 20 points while White finished with 23.
Brown was unstoppable in the third, hitting shots from all over to cross 30 points halfway through the quarter. Brown hit the 31-point mark with a stepback three, and followed that up with another pull-up three and a hockey assist kick-out that forced a Clippers rotation before a Simons triple. Along with his elite shot-making, Brown’s playmaking also shined bright, and a dime to a rolling Garza for free throws along with an assist to a cutting Walsh helped push Boston’s lead back into double figures.
Simons also provided a solid scoring compliment to Brown, hitting on all three of his third quarter 3-point attempts for nine points.
In the fourth, Pritchard scored his first two baskets of the night in the first two minutes, extending the lead to 117-101. Brown, meanwhile, continued to dominate, hitting bucket after bucket to cross the 40-point mark with less than 9 minutes to go. He didn’t stop there, burying a stepback three from the corner, a layup and a mid-range jumper in quick succession. When the Clippers showed a double, he kicked it out to an open Walsh, whose three continued an onslaught that pushed Boston up 131-107.
With four minutes left, Brown hit 50 points with a contested floater, capping off a career-night for the Celtics star. Pritchard hit a three to push the lead to 30 with less than three minutes to go, and the Celtics were able to cruise to their third straight win on the road.
Next up for the Celtics is a return to the Garden for a game against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, January 5. That game starts at 7:30 p.m.
