Los Angeles Clippers extend their winning streak to 15 games; Rout Boston Celtics 106-77: NBA Recap
Los Angeles Clippers demolished the Boston Celtics 106-77 here at the Staples Center on Thursday night, becoming the first team to win 15 straight games since the Celtics did it four years ago.
The red hot Clippers were in no mood to go easy on the Celtics as they went into double-digit lead early in the first quarter and never trailed throughout the game.
The win margin of 29 points is the largest, Clippers have ever managed over Boston, surpassing the 23 point victory six years ago. This loss was the worst for Celtics since the 32 points defeat against the Philadelphia 76ers last
season, which marked the worst defeat in the big three era of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Matt Barnes tied his season-high 21 points; Jamal Crawford had 17 points coming off the bench, while Blake Griffin added 15 points for the Clippers.
“I'm a big believer in we can't look ahead. We've got to be professional, we've got to be prepared, and 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.
Los Angeles were red hot at the start of the game, they connected 7 of their first 10 shots and an 11 nil spurt had them leading 18-4 around the mid quarter mark. They extended their advantage to 21-6 before some late recovery
by the Celtics had them trailing 20-30 by the end of the first period.
“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." Del Negro said.
Celtics started cutting into the lead early in the second period before the Clippers bench took over. The aged squad of Boston could not match the energy and intensity of the Clips reserves, Los Angeles were up 60-47 at halftime.
Odom was spot on the defensive end. Late in the third, he knocked the loose ball from Paul Pierce, things got a bit messy and it eventually resulted in a jump ball. Griffin won the tip and Chris Paul nailed a three pointer to open
up a 76-57 lead. Later Odom blocked a layup attempt by Pierce resulting in another jump ball that landed in the hands of Clippers and a deuce pushed their lead to 21 points. Odom grabbed 13 rebounds on the night, the highest he has hauled down in a year.
The Clippers are now 17-0 when Barnes scores in double-digits off the bench, and have won 11 games in their winning streak by margin of 12 points or more. Celtics were held to 10 points in the final quarter as the Clippers completed
the rout, winning 106-77 eventually.
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