BOSTON — The jet lifted off a little after 8 a.m. in Southern California carrying a flight plan for Boston and two Clippers carrying the most valuable possession in the NBA amid a nationwide surge in COVID-cases that has ravaged NBA rosters: a clean bill of health.
Cleared from the league’s health and safety protocols, point guard Reggie Jackson did not play upon arrival here despite his hopes to suit up, given the limited amount of conditioning he had accomplished while in quarantine. His warmup on the TD Garden floor before tipoff was his first time on a court in eight days, but it was the first step in a ramp-up process the Clippers hope will allow him to play on the last two stops of this road trip, in Toronto and Brooklyn.
The private jet’s other passenger, James Ennis III had played against the Clippers only two nights earlier as a Brooklyn Net. And 24 hours before tipoff, he hadn’t even yet signed a 10-day contract with the team. Then rookie Brandon Boston Jr. entered protocols, and a deal was quickly reached, along with a spot on the jet booked.
Each could play valuable roles in the coming days for the rapidly depleting Clippers. But on Wednesday they watched a 91-82 victory unfold, from the starters’ strong early minutes, the bench’s brutal offense, the center-less lineup that sparked a late third-quarter turnaround and one of the worst three-point shooting nights in league history, as Boston made only four of its 42 from deep.
And neither was needed in the fourth quarter as the Clippers (18-17) turned to Eric Bledsoe and Marcus Morris Sr. to salvage a badly needed win.
Morris and Bledsoe combined to score their team’s last 17 points in the game’s final 10 minutes, with Morris finishing with 23 points in 38 minutes and Bledsoe scoring 17.
Jaylen Brown scored 30 for Boston but had zero assists. Even a season-high 21 offensive rebounds and 101 shot attempts couldn’t save the Celtics, who fall to 16-19.
One of the central challenges facing Lue on Wednesday was how to generate points from his bench unit, having watched Brooklyn create distance in the first half of their Monday victory when Clippers reserves couldn’t keep pace. The issue became even more pronounced, however, when Boston Jr. entered the league’s health and safety protocols after averaging 10.8 points in his last four games. Lue’s attempted fix was to stagger the substitution patterns for Marcus Morris Sr. and Luke Kennard, his two best available shooters, and also fill some of Boston’s minutes with point guard Xavier Moon, a G League player on a 10-day contract.
Four turnovers by reserve center Serge Ibaka exacerbated the Clippers’ offensive shortcomings in Wednesday’s first half. It wasn’t until he made a jumper nearly five minutes into the second quarter that the Clippers had their first basket of the frame, and when Ibaka was replaced 6:36 before halftime had turned a 10-point deficit into a four-point lead.
But over the next 6:36 before halftime, as Lue eventually brought back his starters, the Clippers reeled off a 17-6 run behind the shot-making of Morris, who scored 14 first-half points, and Lowell, Mass.-raised Terance Mann.
When a second double-digit lead was lost in the third quarter, Lue didn’t insert a center. Ibaka never re-entered after his nine first-half minutes, during which the Clippers were outscored by 12. Playing small-ball, the Clipper outscored Boston 12-6 to end the quarter.
