The C's come up short in their bid to come back from down 23 points against the Clippers, twice closing the gap down to under five but never finishing the deal. The Clips leave Boston with a very impressive road win, and the Celtics walk away with their five-game winning streak ripped to shreds.
Mo Williams finishes with 28 points, equaling his season high. DeAndre Jordan adds 21 for the Clippers.
Ray Allen drops 23 points with six rebounds in the loss; Nenad Krstic adds 20 and nine.
The C's are off Thursday before taking on the Phildelphia 76ers on the road Friday night.
Fourth quarter, 25.3 seconds, Clippers 104-100: First Jeff Green nails a corner 3; then the Celtics get a stop.
The TD Garden is fired up, but the C's are still in serious trouble. They're down two possessions with barely over 24 seconds to play.
They need to score quickly and foul quickly.
Fourth quarter, 1:08, Clippers 104-97: Paul Pierce hits a 3, then Rajon Rondo steals the ball from Randy Foye and draws a loose-ball foul.
No way. You're kidding me.
Could this game actually be… not over?
Fourth quarter, 1:35, Clippers 104-93: That should just about do it.
The Celtics gave it everything they had, but Mo Williams just hit one big shot too many. The C's are pretty much done.
It was a thrilling comeback run while it lasted.
Fourth quarter, 3:59, Clippers 97-87: The next huge 3 comes from former Celtic Ryan Gomes. The Clippers' lead has gone from three back to 10 really, really quickly.
Part of you wants to say this game is over. Part of you wants to say, "Wait, this is the Clippers."
Fourth quarter, 4:42, Clippers 92-85: Mo Williams gets stuffed when he tries to drive the lane on Kevin Garnett. But what does he do? Get right back up and drain a 3.
The Clips are back to a seven-point lead.
This is no time for the Celtics to let up. There's still work to be done here.
Fourth quarter, 5:31, Clippers 86-83: Kevin Garnett knocks down his trademark long two in the waning seconds of the shot clock.
You are officially looking at a one-possession basketball game.
Fourth quarter, 7:36, Clippers 86-80: Ray Allen for 3. Unbelievable. The C's are within six.
The TD Garden just rose from the dead. All of a sudden, this place is rocking.
Fourth quarter, 8:00, Clippers 86-77: Blake Griffin may be known for the highlight-reel dunk, but Rajon Rondo just outplayed him under the basket, crossing him over for a reverse layup.
The Celtics are within nine. This is a single-digit game for the first time in a long, long time.
Fourth quarter, 10:05, Clippers 84-70: The Clippers start to pull away again, opening the quarter on an 8-2 run. But Nenad Krstic comes raging back, getting a bucket inside and a three-point play.
If only the rest of the C's cared like Krstic did.
End of third quarter, Clippers 76-66: I could be wrong, but I think the Celtics might possibly have a little life. Just maybe.
The C's close the quarter on an 11-3 run, cutting the visiting Clippers' lead down from 18 points to a mere 10. They're not within striking distance quite yet, but they're getting closer.
If they can string a few more stops together, they might give the Clippers a scare.
Maybe.
Third quarter, 2:45, Clippers 73-57: Kevin Garnett is now 3-for-14 from the field. He's having a miserable night. Between Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Kaman, the Clippers just have too much size for KG. He can't get a shot off.
The C's need either Paul Pierce or Ray Allen to go on a scoring rampage, starting right now. Preferably both of them.
Third quarter, 5:29, Clippers 71-55: DeAndre Jordan's not going anywhere. He's still killing it for the Clippers — 17 points and seven boards.
The Celtics' interior defense is really not there. If you're one of those haters looking for ammo to attack the Kendrick Perkins trade, then here you are. Enjoy.
Third quarter, 7:50, Clippers 67-51: Nenad Krstic is the one Celtic playing like he actually cares. The lanky Serbian just grabbed another offensive rebound and plunked it in. He's now got eight points and six boards.
The C's need a few more hustle plays to spark a comeback here. Krstic can't do this alone.
Third quarter, 9:29, Clippers 65-44: The third quarter hasn't looked much better than the second for Boston. Ryan Gomes, Randy Foye and DeAndre Jordan are all pouring it on.
The Celtics need to play way better on both ends. Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but that's the bottom line. They have no one discernable weakness — they've just been awful at everything.
Halftime, Clippers 60-42: Ladies and gentlemen, you may have just witnessed the Celtics' worst half a game in a long, long time.
The C's have been outshot by the visiting L.A. Clippers in the first half, 67.6 percent to 40.0. Their offense has been lazy and unfocused; their defense has been even worse.
This is just dreadful, Boston.
Mo Williams has 18 points for the Clippers; DeAndre Jordan has added 13.
Hard to find anyone praiseworthy on the Celtics' side of things, but Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett have each broken into double figures with 11 points and 10, respectively. Each has three rebounds.
Second quarter, 2:28, Clippers 54-36: Now Mo Williams has 18. The Celtics are just getting killed out there.
The Clippers are shooting 67.6 percent from the field as a team. For the season, the Celtics are third in the NBA in lowest field-goal percentage against, at 43.6 percent.
What on earth is happening here?
Second quarter, 5:10, Clippers 46-32: Wait a minute. Since when does Mo Williams have 16 points?
The Clips' point guard has exploded for seven points in seven minutes, shooting a perfect 3-for-3. On what's been a relatively quiet night so far for Blake Griffin, the supporting cast is stepping up. Mo and DeAndre Jordan have a combined 29.
The Celtics' starters need to wake up and play some D.
Second quarter, 6:00, Clippers 44-30: Kevin Garnett picks and pops for Carlos Arroyo; Arroyo ignores him and pulls up in the lane for a jumper himself. Swish.
The C's are dangerous when they've got a point guard who can shoot. Arroyo might give them just the spark they need.
They really, really need one.
Second quarter, 8:48, Clippers 35-22: Doc Rivers is going with his "all the new guys" lineup. None of the five C's currently on the floor — Carlos Arroyo, Sasha Pavlovic, Jeff Green, Troy Murphy or Nenad Krstic — was with the team two weeks ago.
If nothing else, this group can defend. These guys are playing with more hunger than the four main starters, all of whom have looked lazy and sluggish tonight.
Second quarter, 10:04, Clippers 35-19: DeAndre Jordan is still going strong. He's got 11 points now. He still hasn't missed a shot.
What in the world is going on? The Celtics look completely dead out there.
End of first quarter, Clippers 30-17: Looks like the Celtics left all their defensive effort in Milwaukee. They clearly don't have any left.
The Clippers shoot 68.4 percent from the field in the first quarter, most of it coming on easy, uncontested shots in the paint. They don't even have to try. The points just pour in.
DeAndre Jordan has nine points for L.A.; Ray Allen has nine for Boston.
The C's need to start putting up a fight.
First quarter, 2:33, Clippers 26-13: Forget about Blake Griffin. It's DeAndre Jordan who's dunking on them at will.
Jordan now has nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. It's coming easy for him — he's getting wide-open looks right under the basket, and he's dropping them in.
It's not supposed to be this easy. Aren't the Celtics known for their defense?
First quarter, 5:44, Clippers 15-10: The first man off the bench for Doc Rivers is Jeff Green, replacing Nenad Krstic.
This is the Celtics' best five-man unit right here — with Green at power forward and Kevin Garnett shifting to center, the C's have skilled, versatile players at every spot on the floor.
Doc has been experimenting with this lineup as his crunch-time unit, and it's looked solid so far. It's good to see him giving these five some more minutes together.
First quarter, 7:48, Clippers 13-10: Blake Griffin is currently scoreless. And reboundless, and assistless. But who cares?
D'Andre Jordan has thrown down a couple monster dunks, and Ryan Gomes is knocking down jump shots like he's Ray Allen. The Clippers don't need Blake — they've got plenty of offense without him.
First quarter, 9:47, Celtics 8-7: The Clippers have Mo Williams guarding Ray Allen. It's not working great so far.
Ray comes off a screen and finds his sweet spot in the corner for a long two. He draws a foul from Williams, gets to the line and drains two shots.
He can keep doing that all night.
First quarter, 11:37, Clippers 3-0: Mo Williams makes himself at home quickly, draining a 3 on the opening possession of the ballgame.
Mo's no stranger to big games on the Garden parquet. Remember Game 6 of the East semifinals last season? He kept the Cavaliers alive fro most of that ballgame.
7:20 p.m.: The Celtics are minutes away from tipoff, and they're a dramatically different team than you saw a few weeks ago. Carlos Arroyo, Troy Murphy, Sasha Pavlovic are on the floor, gearing up to play significant minutes. If you blinked, you missed a major realignment in Boston.
Stay tuned for C's-Clippers in just a moment. Should be an interesting one.
5:30 p.m.: Welcome to the TD Garden, where Carlos Arroyo is on the floor shooting around. The newcomer is likely to debut Wednesday night against the Clippers.
With Delonte West and Von Wafer both injured, the C's are likely to thrust Arroyo into a role right away as the de facto third guard. Beyond Arroyo and rookie Avery Bradley, Doc Rivers doesn't have too many options.
8 a.m.: To all outward appearances, the Celtics' midseason retooling process looks to be finally, at long last, complete.
The Celtics unloaded five of their 15 players at the trade deadline on Feb. 24 — four of them relative spare parts, and one their longtime starting center. As of this week, they've now brought in five new guys to replace them, with the last being guard Carlos Arroyo who signed Sunday.
Now that all's said and done, the C's are pretty happy with the way things ended up.
"I like our team," coach Doc Rivers said. "I like it with everybody healthy, especially. I'll take us all day. I like that we're versatile.
"I like our team a lot," he added, "but I'd like to see it."
Rivers still hasn't gone to war with his whole roster intact. On most nights, he's lucky if 10 of his 15 guys are available. The C's are still battling injuries to Shaquille O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal, Glen Davis, Delonte West and Von Wafer — but no matter. They just keep winning.
They'll try to keep that up on Wednesday night. The C's have won five consecutive games since adding Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic at the deadline, most recently an 89-83 win that they gutted out late Sunday night over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Next up: an L.A. Clippers team that's young, hungry and itching for a statement win.
The C's current winning streak began in L.A. a week and a half ago, with a 99-92 win at the Staples Center on Feb. 26. Randy Foye dropped a game-high 32 points in that contest, but the C's fought back from an early lead and won.
Boston has ascended from a virtual tie with Miami in the Eastern Conference to what's now a 2 1/2-game lead over Chicago, with the Heat lagging behind. The C's can keep pulling away with that No. 1 postseason seed with another win Wednesday.
