Celtics-Clippers Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Dec 26 2012 4:56PM

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin receive most of the notoriety for the Los Angeles Clippers, though one of the league's deepest supporting casts has been a major reason for their success.

Los Angeles looks to extend its franchise-best winning streak to 15 on Thursday night when it hosts a Boston Celtics team that has mainly held Paul in check the last couple times he's faced it.

The Clippers (22-6) have surged to the NBA's best record during their recent run following Tuesday's 112-100 victory over Denver. Paul has been the catalyst for the franchise's turnaround since being acquired from New Orleans prior to last season and is determined to bring it to new heights.

"This is fool's gold," Paul said. "You don't play for the regular season. Obviously, you want to build something."

Paul has 20 assists last two times he's faced Boston, but he's also shot just 3 for 21 in those games and may need help from a cast of reserves ranking among the best in the league averaging 42.7 points.

Jamal Crawford, making the case for his second career sixth man of the year award, scored 22 points for the second straight game Tuesday as Los Angeles improved to 10-2 when he hits the 20-point mark.

"It's about getting better and better," Crawford said. "We're trying to stay locked in and focused."

The Clippers' 64 points from their reserves marked the most since scoring 78 in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 30, 2000.

"We (the bench) are just trying to keep pushing it," Ronny Turiaf told the team's official website. "We're trying to do whatever we've got to do to give us a chance to win a ball game by moving the ball from side to side and playing together. If we do that, everybody succeeds."

The bench outscored Boston's 31-11 in the most recent meeting March 12, but Boston overcame Griffin's 24 points in a 94-85 win in the only matchup since Paul joined the Clippers.

The Celtics (14-13), who have won three of the last four meetings, ended a five-game road losing streak with Tuesday's 93-76 win over Brooklyn to begin a four-game trip. They had lost four of their previous five overall but forced 20 turnovers and set a season best for points allowed.

Boston also plays at Golden State on Saturday before ending its trip Sunday at Sacramento.

"It was good to get off to this start. It was good to finally play from start to finish," said Paul Pierce, who along with Kevin Garnett scored only eight points. "So it was a well-balanced game, but I'm happy with the start of the trip."

Garnett added 10 rebounds to tie Charles Oakley for 15th on the NBA's career list, but he has only one double-digit rebounding effort in his last eight versus the Clippers.

Rajon Rondo's five assists Tuesday were his fewest this season excluding Nov. 28 against Brooklyn when he was ejected in the second quarter. He's averaging 10.5 assists in his last four games versus the Clippers, though, and his 13.8 points per game against them are his best versus any team.

Rondo and Paul are the NBA's top two assist leaders, with Rondo averaging 11.9 and Paul dishing out 9.5 per contest.

Clippers roll past Celtics 106-77

By BETH HARRIS
Posted Dec 28 2012 2:40AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Clippers came roaring out of the opening tip and kept on going to their 15th consecutive victory.

Boosted by an early 24-9 lead their starters provided, Los Angeles beat Boston 106-77 on Thursday night to become the first team to win that many in a row since the Celtics four years ago.

Matt Barnes tied his season high with 21 points off the bench, fellow reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points and Chris Paul had 11 assists as the Clippers scored their sixth straight blowout victory. They haven't had a close win during the streak since Nov. 28, when they beat Minnesota by six points.

"Shows we have a lot of depth. I've probably sat out more fourth quarters this season than any of my previous seven seasons," Paul said. "It's a really good feeling now, a good vibe because everyone is enjoying it."

Blake Griffin had 15 points, Caron Butler added 14 and Lamar Odom 13 rebounds to help the Clippers improve the NBA's best record to 23-6.

"Some people may be impressed by the record, but we can't be," Paul said. "We're not measured by our regular-season wins."

Griffin agreed, saying, "We want to be winning in April, May and June."

Kevin Garnett scored 16 points for Boston, which committed 18 turnovers and never led in dropping to .500 at 14-14 with its fifth loss in seven games. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green added 12 points each to go with 10 apiece from Jason Terry and Rajon Rondo.

Boston's winning streak extended to 19 games in 2008-09.

"Every individual on our team wanted to beat them and every individual tried to do it by themselves instead of just playing our game," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

It was the Clippers' largest-ever win against Boston, coming six years to the day of their previous largest, a 100-77 win on Dec. 27, 2006.

"I thought we came out with too much respect. We wanted to back off some of their bigs and Blake hit some shots that he doesn't usually hit," Garnett said. "They came out with a lot of confidence and they packed the paint and that is the reason why have won 15 in a row. They had us on our heels all night."

Barnes had the Clippers' first five points in a 9-0 run that opened the fourth quarter and boosted their lead to 90-67. Willie Green briefly played; otherwise the Clippers' other starters rested to close out the game.

The Celtics were held to 10 points in the final 12 minutes.

"We just want to continue to build good habits," Barnes said. "We jumped on them early and didn't let them have any breathing room."

The Clippers' starters and their bench played to a draw, scoring 53 points each one game after the reserves outscored the starters in a win over Denver on Christmas.

"It still feels like we can get better," said Ronny Turiaf, who had four points and five rebounds. "We're just having fun. We're in the now. We're just trying to ride the wave."

Garnett had six points in the third when the Celtics were narrowly outscored 22-20, but still trailed 82-67. The Clippers' 9-0 run pushed their lead to 21 points before Boston went on a 10-4 run, including 3-pointers by Courtney Lee and Rondo to end the quarter.

The game got chippy at times. In the third, Jared Sullinger was called for a flagrant-1 foul for grabbing the front of Griffin on his way up to dunk. Then Butler and Pierce emerged from a big mass both holding onto the ball, leading to a jump ball. In the first, Rondo was lying on the ball and Paul tried to take it out from under him on the sideline, leading to a testy moment.

The Celtics cut their deficit to four points early in the second quarter - the closest they came after the opening quarter - with consecutive 3-pointers by Terry and Lee before the Clippers' second unit rebuilt the double-digit lead the starters had created. Crawford scored 13 points for Los Angeles, highlighted by a fast-break floater and a rainbow 3. He scored the final four points to keep the Clippers ahead 60-47 heading into halftime.

NOTES: The Clippers are assured of finishing December as their best month ever with two games remaining, including the second half of a back-to-back at Utah. They've already surpassed the franchise record for most wins in a month, bettering the old mark of 12 shared by the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves and the 1991-92 Clippers (which included Celtics coach Doc Rivers). ... Boston fell to 5-9 on the road. ... The Clippers' last loss was on Nov. 26 at home against New Orleans. ... Justin Bieber (who had Paul's young son sitting on his lap), Billy Crystal and Olympic 200 sprint champion Allyson Felix were among the Clippers' 67th consecutive sellout crowd.

Notebook: Clippers 106, Celtics 77

Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:21 AM - Updated Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:21 AM

THE FACTS: Looking to extend their franchise-best winning streak to 15 games, the Clippers took on the last NBA team to put together such a streak, the legendary Boston Celtics. L.A. didn't bother easing itself into the game against the league's most storied franchise, instead bolting to a double-digit lead after the first 4 ½ minutes Thursday night and never trailing in the in the 106-77 victory at Staples Center.

THE STAT: L.A's margin of victory was the largest over the Celtics in franchise history, surpassing the 23-point win six years ago Wednesday. The loss was also the worst for Boston since a 32-point defeat last March against the 76ers, which represented the worst defeat in the Big 3 era of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

QUOTABLE: "I'm a big believer in we can't look ahead. We've got to be professional, we've got to be prepared, we've got to be locked in to what we want to do and how we want to do it."
-- Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro

TURNING POINT: The Clippers sank seven of their first 10 shots to build a 16-4 lead and 9-for-13 to extend the advantage to 21-6 with 5:41 still remaining in the first quarter. The Celtics got as close as four early in the second before an 8-0 by the Clippers over the next 85 seconds pushed the lead back to double digits. Boston never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "We were able to get off to a good start. I thought our starters had a good first quarter and then our bench came in and weathered the storm."
-- Vinny Del Negro

HOT: The play off the bench by Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom and Matt Barnes continues to outshine that of All-Star teammates Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Barnes scored 21 points, his ninth consecutive game in double digits, and matched his season high with five 3-pointers on nine attempts. Crawford, who came into the game leading the league in bench scoring at 16.1, scored 17 points, and Odom had a season-high 13 rebounds to go with four points, five assists and four blocked shots. Odom's rebound total was the most since he had 14 as a member of the Lakers in April 2011.

NOT: Celtics rookie forward Jared Sullinger matched his season high with 16 points in a 93-76 win against the Nets on Christmas Day, but he was no match for the speed and athleticism of L.A's big men, leaving him in constant foul trouble. The 6-foot-9, 290-pounder picked up two fouls in his first 3:20 of playing time, was called for his third four minutes after checking into the game in the second quarter, then was whistled for No. 4 on a flagrant-1 foul against Griffin shortly after checking into the game in the third. He eventually fouled out for the second time in the last three games, finishing with four points and five rebounds.

GOOD MOVE: Odom's best sequence came in the third quarter. He knocked the ball loose from Pierce as he tried to make a spin move at the top of the key, resulting in a dog pile that eventually resulted in a jump ball. Griffin won the tip and Paul hit a 3-pointer on the other end to give the Clippers their biggest lead at the time, 76-57. Odom then blocked Pierce's layup attempt, resulting in another jump ball. The Clippers won that too, leading to a basket by Caron Butler that pushed the lead to 21.

BAD MOVE: The Celtics continue to start Jason Collins at center, but the 34-year-old is nothing more than a screen setter. He did not have a shot attempt in 18 minutes and collected just one rebound. Since moving into the starting lineup Dec. 21 against the Bucks, he has taken just five shots and scored a total of six points. A better option would be to move Garnett to center and start Brandon Bass at power forward.

NOTABLE: The Celtics won 19 straight early in the 2008-09 season. ... The Clippers are 17-0 when Barnes scores in double figures off the bench. ... The Clippers have won 11 games during their winning streak by 12 points or more.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Friday @ Utah, Sunday vs. Utah, Tuesday @ Denver. For the Celtics, Saturday @ Golden State, Sunday @ Sacramento, Wednesday vs. Memphis.

• Celtics: Melo, Wilcox
• Clippers: Billups, Hill, Thompkins

• Celtics: --
• Clippers: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #42 Eric Lewis, #73 Tre Maddox
• Attendance: 19552
• Duration: 2:27