The suddenly surging Boston Celtics had won their last seven straight games at home, and 9 of 11 overall as they have risen to third place in the Eastern Conference standings. He added that it’s always nice to come back to Boston, and he still frequents his old coaching home during the offseason.
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Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers calls to his players during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics in Boston, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016.
Thomas’ 36 points led six Celtics in double figures, and Jared Sullinger flirted with a triple-double (21 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists). – LA Clippers forward Paul Pierce on if tonight was his last game in the Garden. Isaiah Thomas is averaging 21.4 points and 6.6 assists while Avery Bradley is averaging 15 points and 2.7 rebounds. The Celtics are well positioned to make a run in the near future, but even if Stevens doesn’t win a championship he still has an easy path to long-term adulation in Boston.
Boston played the second half without big man Kelly Olynyk after he left late in the first half with a bruised right shoulder.
The way the Boston Celtics are scoring right now, they may want to try bottling a little of it before they leave for the All-Star break.
“We really couldn’t get out of the way of ourselves for most of the game”, Doc Rivers said.
Paul, who will play in his ninth consecutive All-Star Game this Sunday, erupted for 35 points, 13 assists and five rebounds. DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Clippers.
“I don’t think people understand how hard it is to coach a bunch of young guys”, Rivers said.
After a Celtics miss, he was fouled again on a 3-point attempt, and connected on two of his three free throws to give Los Angeles a six-point lead.
As Pierce makes another emotional return to Boston, GoLocal goes inside the numbers. Turner then put the Celtics in front 135-132 via a three-point play – his seventh straight point – with 1:33 left.
A while later, Pierce agreed that he’s already done a lot for the Celtics and continues to contribute by virtue of the haul the club received when they traded him and Garnett to Brooklyn. The Clippers had a final chance, but Crawford’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left caromed off the backboard and curled around the rim before rolling out.
Los Angeles led 120-117 with 56 seconds to play in regulation after Thomas was fouled on a driving layup.
The Celtics used the hack-a-Jordan twice in the first half, but the center ruined the strategy by hitting all four free throws. However, the Celtics rallied and tied the game on a pair of jumpers by Thomas, who was, for some reason, being guarded by Jordan.
Clippers: Crawford has scored at least 20 points in the last five games, averaging 22 points over that span…. Without Rivers’ departure, there would be no Brad Stevens on the Boston bench, getting the absolute most out of a handful of young players and some of the NBA’s misfit toys. Asked about his first time back with Pierce on his side, Rivers instead veered into an appreciation of all Pierce meant for the Celtics franchise.
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points and drilled a jumper from the tip of the key with 0.9 on the clock to lift San Antonio to a 98-96 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
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Boston travels to Utah on February 19.
