BOSTON — Montrezl Harrell forced two turnovers in the final two minutes and Patrick Beverly hit a pair of 3-pointers in front of the Boston bench Saturday night to help the retooled Los Angeles Clippers overcome a 28-point first-half deficit and beat the Celtics, 123-112.
One game after the Lakers rallied from 18 points down to win in Boston on Rajon Rondo’s buzzer-beater – and six days after the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl – the Clippers turned the “Beat L.A.! chants” to boos. The Celtics’ collapse corresponded to the loss of Kyrie Irving, who left with a sprained knee in the second quarter, when the game seemed comfortably in hand.
Harrell scored 21 points, Danilo Gallinari had 19 points and 10 rebounds and a trade deadline acquisition, Landry Shamet scored 17 points.
Gordon Hayward scored 19 points, and Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier had 16 apiece for Boston. The Celtics followed their highest-scoring half of the season with their lowest-scoring quarter and lost at home to a team from Los Angeles for the second straight time.
Boston scored 15 straight points and finished the first quarter with a 23-point lead, then extended it to 68-40 in the second. The Celtics led 74-53 at halftime, but the Clippers outscored them 28-12 in the third.
Los Angeles finally made it 100-100, bringing boos from the crowd that expected an easy victory against a team that traded away its leading scorer, Tobias Harris, at the deadline and added five new players. Gallinari followed with a jumper to give the Clippers their first lead.
The Celtics were down by a point when Marcus Smart missed a 3-pointer, then tried to take a charge on Harrell but didn’t get the call. Smart was on the floor, hoping for a call, when Beverly hit his first 3.
Harrell followed by stealing the ball from Hayward, then bounding down the court with a Celtic on either side before going in for a two-handed dunk that made it 114-107.
JAZZ 125, SPURS 105: Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Utah won at Salt Lake City.
PACERS 105, CAVALIERS 90: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points and Indiana won at Indianapolis to extend its winning streak to five games.
HORNETS 129, HAWKS 120: Kemba Walker hit nine 3-pointers and scored 37 points, Marvin Williams added 27 points and Charlotte won at Atlanta to snap a two-game skid.
RAPTORS 104, KNICKS 99: Marc Gasol had seven points and six rebounds in his Toronto debut and the visiting Raptors sent New York to its 16th straight loss.
GRIZZLIES 99, PELICANS 90: Joakim Noah had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead Memphis at home.
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