The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers were both missing key pieces Wednesday night as a combined nine rotation players sat out the contest.

The Celtics still had by far the two best players on the floor, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Boston got a lift from its supporting cast to take down the shorthanded Clippers, who were missing James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.

It was way harder than it was supposed to be for the Celtics, who were without Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Jrue Holiday, but they overcame a collapse late in the fourth quarter to pull out a 117-113 overtime win over the Clippers at Intuit Dome. Boston is now 31-13 while the Clippers slipped to 24-19.

Here are three studs and three duds from a hard-fought win for the Celtics:

STUDS
Jaden Springer
Springer probably isn’t the name Celtics fans expected to be leading this list, especially since he didn’t check into the game until 4:18 left in the third quarter. But Springer made an immediate and immense impact on the defensive end and Joe Mazzulla stuck with him for all but one minute of the fourth quarter and overtime. Springer cooled off the Clippers offense — especially Kevin Porter Jr. — by recording four steals. Springer also knocked down a big 3-pointer with 34.4 seconds left in the extra frame to give the Celtics a five-point lead. Springer totaled eight points and two rebounds in 20 minutes.

Story continues below advertisement

Neemias Queta
It wasn’t a perfect performance from Queta, but he chipped in with the Celtics having limited frontcourt personnel. Queta tallied 11 points and four rebounds off the bench and provided strong interior defense. Queta put the finishing touches on the win when he showed patience and scored the final basket of overtime.

Derrick Jones Jr.
Jones certainly made the most of his minutes with L.A.’s stars sidelined. Jones netted a season-high 29 points — his previous high on the campaign was 20 — and was an efficient 12-for-20 shooting from the field. He also delivered in the big moments for the Clippers and added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

    What do you think?  Leave a comment.

DUDS
Payton Pritchard
Pritchard has terrific range, but he took several ill-advised shots that hurt Boston’s offense. It resulted in the Celtics guard shooting just 4-for-11 from the field, including an abysmal 1-for-7 mark from 3-point range. Pritchard finished with nine points and also had three turnovers.

Jaylen Brown
The Celtics would have won in regulation, but Brown got in the way. He committed a dreadful turnover in the offensive end with the Celtics up by two in the final second. He made an errant pass right to Derrick Jones Jr., who went the length of the floor and leveled the score with a layup. Brown did hit a key 3-pointer in overtime and finished with a team-high 25 points and six assists, but Brown’s turnover overshadowed his performance. Turnovers are a habitual problem for Brown, who had five of them in the win.

Story continues below advertisement

Baylor Scheierman
Mazzulla tried to give Scheierman a chance by giving him some minutes in the first half. But the rookie just doesn’t look like he belongs on an NBA court at the moment. Scheierman played just six minutes and missed both of the shots he took from beyond the arc. It’s clear he needs more seasoning in the G League.

Featured image via Jason Parkhurst/Imagn Images