Here are five things to watch out for when the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers meet at 7:30 p.m. tonight at TD Garden.
The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors have been hogging the spotlight in the Western Conference, but they are certainly not the only threats to take the West this season.
The Los Angeles Clippers have been overlooked throughout the majority of the season because they underperformed during the first two months of the 2015-16 campaign. They were 7-8 through their first 15 contests and 16-13 through Dec. 21.
Since Christmas Day, however, L.A. has gone on a 19-4 tear. Golden State and San Antonio, meanwhile, have gone 20-3 and 19-3, respectively, during that same span.
The Clippers have won eight of their last 10 heading into tonight’s matchup versus a Boston team that is winners of nine of its last 11.
Interestingly, the Clippers have been at their best without star forward Blake Griffin on the floor.
Griffin was sidelined on Dec. 26 with a partially torn left quadriceps, and then further delayed his return when he broke his right hand during an off-court incident.
The five-time All-Star had averaged 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists through 30 games to that point, so one would think that his absence would be detrimental to an already-underperforming Clippers team.
It’s had the opposite effect, however, as L.A. has gone 18-4 without him, thanks to consistently solid efforts from Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Jamal Crawford and J.J. Reddick.
Tonight will mark Paul Pierce’s fourth return to Boston, and his first while donning a Clippers uniform alongside coach Doc Rivers.
The two, of course, helped bring the C’s 17th championship banner to Boston in 2008, and now they’re attempting to do the same in Pierce’s hometown of L.A.
The 38-year-old forward is playing a much different role with the Clippers than he did during his 15-season tenure with the C’s. Pierce remains in a starting role, but he is averaging less than 20 minutes per game (17.6 MPG) for the first time in his career. Of course, that lack of court time has also impacted his other statistics – he’s averaging 5.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Pierce’s impact on the team, however, has gone far beyond his nightly box score contributions, as his veteran presence basically provides Rivers with an assistant coach on the floor.
Boston crawled into last season’s All-Star break with a 20-31 record. This season has been much different, as the third-seeded Celtics (31-23) currently seem like the last team in need of a break.
But, alas, tonight will mark Boston’s final contest until Feb. 19, and its last home game until Feb. 25. Two of its players – Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas – will partake in All-Star activities this coming weekend, while the others will receive an eight-day rest.
Before doing so, the C’s will look to snatch a win against one of the top teams in the league and head into the break on a high note.
There is probably no player on the Celtics roster looking forward to the All-Star break more than Jae Crowder. Pride has carried him through Boston’s last three games, after he sustained a high ankle sprain on Feb. 3 against Detroit.
Crowder has performed extremely well despite the injury. Last night in Milwaukee he scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a game-tying 3 with 23 seconds to go.
Hopefully he can put forth one more effort like that tonight before receiving a lengthy, much-deserved rest.
