The Boston Celtics are heading in the right direction as they claimed their third victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, 117-112, on Tuesday night.
The victory puts the Cs above 0.500 as they improve 18-17 during the campaign. They are now in fifth place in the Eastern Conference position with the New York Knicks.
Highlights: C’s lead over Clippers for third straight win, 117-112
Is this recent stretch a sign of what’s going to happen for these Cs in the second half of the season? It remains to be seen, but there’s enough to take away from Boston’s latest win:
1. Payton Pritchard and Robert Williams have excellent chemistry.
Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics by 25 and 18 points respectively, but Payton Pritchard and Robert Williams won this game by delivering a much-needed spark from the bench. Pritchard and Williams were undoubtedly Boston’s two most reliable players on the second unit this season, and that continued Tuesday night.
Pritchard finished with 23 points and three assists (4-for-7 of 3) in 23 minutes. Time Lord was simply electrifying and scored 13 points with eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
What makes this duo even more enjoyable to watch is their strong chemistry on the track together. Just watch the play below.
There are still a lot of fast PP / Time Lord alley oops where this is coming from this year.
Both Pritchard and Williams continue to prove their success this season is not a fluke. They just get better.
2. Rumors about the death of Kemba Walker were greatly exaggerated.
Make those four straight games with 20 plus points for Kemba Walker. If you counted out the four-time All-Star after its inconsistent start to the season, there is still time to change your mind.
Walker scored the Cs with 25 points in the win, while reaching 6-for-12 from 3-point and adding six assistants. The knee looks healthy while the 30-year-old guard finds his rhythm in the All-Star break.
It is no coincidence that the Celtics won three runs while Walker played at this level. They need this version of Walker in the future if they are to have the chance to make a deep playoff battle again. It promises very well for the Cs that they were able to secure a victory with Jayson Tatum (14 points, 5-for-16) being ice cold for most of the game. As long as Walker keeps his foot on the pedal, Boston can afford an off game from Tatum and Brown here and there.
3. Where was Aaron Nesmith?
Nesmith was a DNP for the second consecutive game on Tuesday, and that’s somewhat confusing as the newcomer appears to be showing improvement with more playing time. The Vanderbilt product last played in Friday’s win over the Indiana Pacers, but he only scored seven minutes in that game. Before that, he recorded a career-high 13 points and shot 5-for-7 off the field in 14 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks.
Maybe it’s simply a similar thing for Brad Stevens, but Nesmith has shown a lot of flashes of potential over the past month. It will be nice to see that the lottery in 2020 gets a chance to shine on Thursday before the head of the C until the break.
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The Celtics will win four times straight if they host the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night. Tip for the game is set for 19:00 ET with Celtics Pregame Live at 18:00 on NBC Sports Boston.