Blakely: Celtics proving they can win the close ones

Share

BOSTONDoc Rivers was none too happy with how his team nearly squandered a 19-point lead before barely hanging on for a 106-104 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"We stopped playing; we stopped playing," said Rivers, adding that this was the second straight game - both wins - that the C's eased up on a team but still managed to get the victory. "I hate it as a coach you tell them that, and they're all agreeing with you."

But the upside is that Sunday's win was the kind of game that not that long ago, would have easily resulted in a Celtics loss.

"It shows we're getting better, more comfortable, you know a lot of steps," said Boston's Jeff Green. "We just gotta keep going, taking the positives and getting better, taking the negatives and learning from them."

Certainly the biggest negative for Boston (24-23) on Sunday was the fact that their control was nearly lost in the game's final minute.

And while the Celtics did their part in clinging to the victory, they got a bit of assistance from a questionable decision by Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro in the game's final seconds.

After Boston's Avery Bradley drew an offensive foul against Clippers guard Jamal Crawford with 26.5 seconds to play and Boston ahead by two points, Del Negro had to decide whether to defend for the full 24 seconds on the shot clock or look to foul sooner and get the ball back.

Paul Pierce milked the clock down to the final second, launched a 3-pointer that went in and left the Clippers with 2.5 seconds to play and trailing by five points.

"It was a tough one," Rivers said of the late-game decision by the Clippers. "We debated it; half and half. I said I'm trapping probably and fouling. But it's a hard one, that two and half (seconds). Our number is three where we won't (foul). But we never had two and a half."

Said Del Negro: "It was right on the number. We've done it both ways. If we get a stop there, three or four seconds to go we've got plenty of time, two point game, could have fouled. If I was going to do it I would have fouled Courtney Lee early right when he got the ball, but you play the percentages."

And the percentages, at least most of this season, say that the C's don't win games like this.

But this is a different squad, one that seems to play with a greater purpose than what we saw earlier this season.

How much of that can be attributed to losing Rajon Rondo (torn right ACL) and Jared Sullinger (lumbar disc surgery) is debatable.

But what isn't questionable is the Celtics re-discovering how to close out games that come down to the final seconds.

For Rivers, it was the kind of performance that reminds his players that despite winning four straight, there's still room - lots of room - to improve.

All the crisp ball movement and solid play defensively was washed away with a horrific third quarter that certainly gave the Clippers the confidence that maybe just maybe, they could get back into the game and steal a victory.

Rivers saw his team becoming unhinged about halfway through the third quarter.

"They're scoring in five seconds, we're walking the ball up the floor," Rivers said. "That's not who we are. We can't be that anymore. We just can't; we can't play that way. We won the game and we beat a heck of a team. I'm happy about that. But in my mind, we can be better, much better than we were today."

Contact Us