Clippers 119, Celtics 106
J.J. Redick scored 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting as visiting Los Angeles capped a perfect three-game road trip by blasting Boston.
Chris Paul added 21 points and 10 assists while Blake Griffin collected 21 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who have won seven straight. Matt Barnes scored 18 points and DeAndre Jordan contributed 15 points and 14 rebounds as Los Angeles moved within 1 1/2 games of Houston in second place in the Western Conference.
Isaiah Thomas had 19 points and seven assists off the bench to lead the Celtics, who dropped one-half game behind Brooklyn for the No. 8 spot in the East. Tyler Zeller scored 16 points and Kelly Olynyk added 14 in a reserve role for Boston.
Redick and Barnes buried back-to-back 3-pointers on the first two possessions of the game and the Clippers never trailed. Paul’s jumper made it 34-20 after the first quarter and Barnes and Redick went back-to-back from beyond the arc again to push the advantage to 55-31 with 4:54 left in the second before Los Angeles settled for a 21-point lead at the half.
Barnes and Redick struck again with consecutive 3-pointers on the Clippers’ first two possessions of the third quarter and Paul followed with a pair from beyond the arc to make it 82-51. The lead reached 35 points with 4:41 left in the third and Los Angeles took a 105-79 advantage into the fourth before holding off a late rally.
GAME NOTEBOOK: When the deficit reached 35 points in the third quarter, it marked the Celtics’ largest home deficit since 2003. … Boston’s starting backcourt of Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley was outscored 48-5 by Paul and Redick. … The game was delayed for several minutes with 5:10 left in the fourth quarter when a fan at courtside had to be treated by medical personnel and taken off on a stretcher.