What to Know
- Chris Forsberg will share more analysis on a postgame edition of the Celtics Talk Podcast.
- The Celtics are back to .500 (7-7) after consecutive wins.
- James Harden scored 28 of his 37 points (9-for-21 from field) in the second half.
- Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 33 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
- Boston will travel to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been as close as it was. The Celtics led by 18 points at the half and extended their lead to 24 early in the third quarter, after all. Nevertheless, the C’s did enough down the stretch and hung on for a 121-118 victory at TD Garden on Sunday evening.
A clutch win is a good win, especially for a team that didn’t have many clutch wins on their resume.
Contributions from the Celtics’ starting lineup, headlined by Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard, helped the Green overcome a maybe-not-past-his-prime James Harden, who scored 28 of his game-high 37 points in the second half. Harden, who made five 3-pointers, had a good look at a game-tying three but missed it at the buzzer.
It was a game of runs as the Celtics had double-digit lead after double-digit lead cut at the end of each quarter. Boston built a 16-point lead in the first quarter, but led by seven at quarter’s end. The C’s took an 18-point lead at the half and extended that to 24 points four minutes into the second half. The Clippers, though, stormed back behind a better bench performance (37-16 advantage in bench points) and cut it to one possession at the start of the fourth.
Fortunately for the Celtics, Brown, who recorded a double-double of 33 points and 12 rebounds, and Pritchard (30 points on 8-for-13 from long range) did enough alongside Derrick White (22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) and Neemias Queta (14 points, nine rebounds).
Check out everything you need to know in our Celtics-Clippers recap:
