After dropping a game to Philadelphia on Tuesday, the LA Clippers need to pick up a win in Boston to enter All-Star break on the right foot.
Tuesday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers wasn’t the worst loss of the season. That happened on Saturday in Minnesota. Still, the LA Clippers showed some flaws against an Eastern Conference playoff team. With another one on the schedule tonight in the Boston Celtics, the Clips need to win convincingly to enter All-Star break on the right foot. A win would put them back in second place, just half a game ahead of the Denver Nuggets.
Last time the Clippers faced the Celtics, they won in a 107-104 overtime thriller.
Tonight all starts with Paul George, who scored 25 points in the previous win versus Boston. Unlike that game, Tuesday was a big one in which he failed to shoot the ball well. While there is likely a good reason for his poor play in some of the bigger contests, a good showing tonight against two young star players in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown would go a long way.
20 points or more from George combined with the usual scoring of Kawhi Leonard would likely place the Clippers’ chances of winning pretty high. Lou Williams could also use a good game as he has shot poorly as of late.
With Patrick Beverley still out with his groin injury, Lou earned the start in Philadelphia. Unlike Tuesday where the team could hide him on a lesser player, Lou would be facing off against an All-Star in Kemba Walker. Perhaps Doc Rivers switches things up and throws Landry Shamet in to try and slow Kemba down while also spacing the floor more for the two stars.
The biggest x-factor may be Montrezl Harrell. Limited by Philly’s size, Harrell was able to just score ten points in Tuesday’s loss. Boston starts Daniel Theis who is serviceable but no defensive stopper. Off the bench, they have Enes Kanter who can get his points but is a black hole defensively. Last time out though, Trezz was held to just six points on 3-8 shooting. He also attempted no free throws.
If Trezz can slow down Kanter while abusing him on the other side of the ball, LA will be in good shape. Trezz is putting up a career-high 18.7 points per game but this matchup could mean he scores somewhere in the mid-twenties.
Boston is also coming off a loss on Tuesday, falling to the Houston Rockets 116-105. A win for them tonight would help them gain some ground on the second place Toronto Raptors who finally had their 15-game win streak broken.
The game tips off at 5:00 PM PST on TNT. Make sure to follow us on Twitter during the game and to check back here for all your LA Clippers’ news and coverage!