Crawford Leads Clippers Back Against Boston
- Updated: March 6, 2017
Sometimes in basketball, it’s all about who gets it going at the right time. Enter Jamal Crawford and the Clippers.
The Los Angeles Clippers took on the Boston Celtics Monday night in a game that wound up being quite a defensive battle early on. A 46-43 halftime score was hardly expected heading into this contest. And it certainly wasn’t noticed by anybody watching.
The first half was all Celtics, seems odd that they only led by 6. Isaiah Thomas got things going early for his club with 10 points in the first quarter. Along with Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley, Boston looked like they were just straight out-hustling Los Angeles.
The beginning of the third quarter didn’t offer much change. The Celtics got off to a great run and the Clippers were just fighting to keep it close, trailing by as many as 13.
Then the aforementioned Crawford came to life.
“Jamal Crawford a.k.a. Benjamin Button!”@ripcityhamilton says watch out for @JCrossover in the 4Q! #PlayersOnly pic.twitter.com/i3sBguWKwo
— Players Only on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 7, 2017
Crawford closed out the third with 3 consecutive three-pointers and the team never looked back. His shooting touch became contagious and everything started to fall. Most importantly this turnaround happened with stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul on the bench.
Depth will be key for the Clippers if they intend to make a deep run in the playoffs this season. A strong performance like this one from the bench against a certain playoff team in Boston was a relieving sight to say the least.
Los Angeles closed this one out with a 116-102 win at Staples Center.
Crawford ended up with 19 points while going 4-5 from beyond the arc in what was a stellar performance off the bench.
The Clippers big three each found ways to effect this matchup as well. Paul finished up with 23 points to go with 5 rebounds. Meanwhile Griffin was the team’s leading scorer with 26 points along with 8 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan shined on the boards as well. Jordan had 15 points and 12 rebounds in a rare rebounding win for Los Angeles. They out-rebounded the Celtics by 10.
A huge win for Los Angeles’ momentum moving into this next short road trip. The Minnesota Timberwolves await the Clippers on Wednesday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Thanks for reading along Clipper Nation. Here’s to keeping this two game winning streak going on the road.
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