Clippers at Celtics
The Boston Celtics are locked in a battle for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference and are hoping to get some help from their former coach. The Celtics will try to put together back-to-back wins when they host coach Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. Rivers won a championship in Boston but would not recognize the current Celtics roster as he tries to lead Los Angeles to homecourt advantage in the West.
Los Angeles clinched a playoff spot Friday and is locked in a battle with five teams for the No. 2 spot in the West, but currently sits in fifth two games back of Memphis. "The first (step) is getting in the playoff,” Rivers told reporters. “You’ve just got to get in, and then the second is if you can get home court it’d be great. But you want to win everything.” The Celtics are a half-game up on Brooklyn for the No. 8 spot and one game south of the Miami Heat in seventh.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (48-25): Los Angeles is rolling with six straight wins and took the first two stops of its three-game road trip at New York and Philadelphia by a total of 42 points. The Clippers would have homecourt advantage over No. 4 Portland if the season ended Saturday due to their superior record. “We’ve come a long way as a team, as an organization,” forward Matt Barnes told reporters. “Our goal is to win a championship. We’re not satisfied with clinching a playoff spot or anything like that. We know we have enough talent to win a championship, and that’s our goal.”
ABOUT THE CELTICS (32-40): Boston is playing its final game against a Western Conference team on Sunday and is gearing up for a final two weeks that will decide their playoff destiny. The Celtics got a boost on Friday when Isaiah Thomas looked much fresher in his second game back from a back injury and contributed 18 points and six assists in 24 minutes off the bench. “I was quicker than I was the other night,” Thomas told reporters. “The biggest thing is for me to get my legs underneath me. My shot was a little short.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers have taken three straight in the series, including a 102-93 home win on Jan. 19.
2. Boston F Jae Crowder is averaging 15 points and 6.8 rebounds in his last five games.
3. Los Angeles G Nate Robinson (knee) missed the first two games of the road trip and is questionable for Sunday.