It’s fun when a hyped-up game comes out and exceeds expectations.
The Boston Celtics traveled to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Wednesday night, who finally had their full-look roster with Paul George returning from injury and Kawhi Leonard on the court.
The Clippers looked good. The Celtics also looked good! It went to overtime, a deserved result as for the entire game it felt like neither team could pull away. This wasn’t a game of big runs. They just traded baskets and stops all night.
The game went to overtime after Jayson Tatum went and broke George’s ankles and drained a huge three to tie the game late, but the Clippers went on a nice run in OT and were able to hang on and win 107-104, thanks in part to a fantastic last-second block from Leonard.
If you had to ask: No, Leonard didn’t celebrate at all, because he’s Kawhi Leonard.
It was a bit of a wonky game because it’s clear that George and Leonard are still figuring things out. It’s wild to say that, considering George finished with 25-5-8 and Leonard finished with 17-6-3, but Leonard especially was a little more deferential than we usually see him. It was also a bit wonky in that the Celtics’ Kemba Walker had an uncharacteristic off night, finishing with 13 points on 4 of 17 shooting.
Tatum had 30 though, and backup point guard Brad Wanamaker came hot off the bench and got 14 points.
Potential finals matchup? Maybe. Sure. We’d do that.
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