March 6th, 2017

The Clippers got their act together on Monday night.  Doc Rivers got a win against his former team, the Celtics, 116-102 at Staples Center.  They did so behind the strength of a huge second half.

Blake Griffin scored 26 points, and Chris Paul added 23, as LA scored 63 points on 84% shooting over the final 16 minutes.  The first 32 minutes saw them score only 53 points.

The Celtics had a 13 point lead at one point in the 2nd half, but Jamal Crawford was a huge part of the Clippers rally.  Crawford scored 17 of his 19 points in the final 24 minutes.  “He made some tremendous shots,” Brad Stevens said.  “That’s what he does.”

Boston was led by Isaiah Thomas, who scored 31 points, as well as Marcus Smart, who went for 21. However, the Celtics shot just 41% from the field.  They were also hammered on the boards, 47-37.

DeAndre Jordan also scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds for LA, which won their second straight game.  The Clippers remained 1.5 games behind Utah for 4th place in the Western Conference.

Chris Paul went to the bench late in the 3rd quarter with an elbow injury.  Paul bumped into Kelly Olynyk, and grabbed his right elbow after falling to the floor.  For much of the 4th quarter, Paul had his elbow wrapped in ice.  He re-entered the game in the final two minutes.

“That second unit was great” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.  “I stuck with them for a long time.  That was good for us too.  Anytime we can win a game and get guys down in minutes, it’s never a bad thing.”

The Clippers will now hit the road for a couple of games.  Up next will be Wednesday night for a game against the Timberwolves.