Dec

28

Baron At The Buzzer Pushes Clippers Past Celtics 92-90

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Game Recap 

Los Angeles Clippers veteran point guard Baron Davis drained an outside jumper at the buzzer and the Clippers ended the Boston Celtics 9 game winning streak on the road Sunday as they squeezed by the Celtics 92-90. Clippers center Chris Kaman had a double-double with a game high 27 points while Davis would also record a double-double and added another 24 points in the victory. Los Angeles shot 50.7% (35-69) for the contest. Rajon Rondo was the leading scorer for Boston with 20 points in the loss.

The “Mike Dunleavy Death Watch” has gone into overdrive for about the past week. Los Angeles had dropped their last three games and the big rumor going around the “City Of Angels” was after the Clippers were embarrassed by Boston Dunleavy would be terminated on Monday.

If that was actually the case then this game most likely was a stay of execution. Defeating the team that heading into the contest shared the best record in the Association with their building-mates the Lakers most likely will keep Dunleavy around at least until mid-January. 

The Clippers were able to hang with the Celtics for the first three quarters  and in the fourth Boston seemed dazed and confused. The Celtics would have a razor thin lead at the end of the first as the quarter ended with score 23-22. Boston would double their lead in the second and as the game reached the half the Celtics could not have been pleased they were only ahead 48-46.

The Celtics looked like they were ready to pull away in the third as center Kendrick Perkins drove the lane putting the ball up and in with 5:41 left in the period giving his team a 65-54 advantage. However the Clippers were not ready to go away quietly into the night and at the end of the quarter Boston’s lead was down to 73-69. 

Los Angeles kept threatening in the fourth but every time they made advancements Boston stayed ahead. However with 8 seconds left in the game Rasual Butler knocked down a trey from 23 feet out knotting the game up at 90-90. The Celtics had chances to take the lead back but they could not convert. This game seemed destined for overtime until Davis would get the win with his jumper at the buzzer. 

Chris Kaman recorded a double-double as he had a game high 27 points, 1 assist and 1 block. Baron Davis also had a double-double as he scored 24 points, dished off 13 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Eric Gordon was the only other Clippers player in double figures as the guard knocked down 15 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.

Rajon Rondo led the Celtics with 20 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Ray Allen scored 13 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds while Kevin Garnett added 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Tony Allen starting for the injured Paul Pierce had a double-double with 10 points, 10 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals while Eddie House came off the bench and also had 10 points. Los Angeles with the victory improves to 13-17 and will next play Wednesday as they head up the coast to Portland while Boston is now 23-6 and will head to the Bay Area to match-up against the Golden State Warriors Monday.

© Copyright 2009 thesackattack


Updates, Fresh From the Oven, Straight to Your Inbox

Comments

Leave a Reply