Three studs, three duds from the Celtics’ blowout win over the Clippers

The Boston Celtics found all sorts of rhythm against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden on Monday night. It’s very difficult to stop Joe Mazzula’s team when it’s hot from 3-point range, especially when his X-factor is back on the floor.

The Celtics took an early lead with a flurry of outside shooting and never did again with a 126-94 victory over the Clippers that won their sixth straight game.

The potential fatigue of a back-to-back apparently had no effect on Boston as the lineup continued to roll after Sunday’s narrow win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Here are three points and a dud from the Celtics’ solid win.

SUPPORT
Kristaps Porzingis
Apparently.

The star center spoke to the Celtics for the first time since the decisive game of the 2024 NBA Finals. Porzingis made his season debut less than five months after undergoing surgery to repair his postseason injuries, and his impact was evident early.

He has made important contributions throughout the stat sheet in a somewhat limited amount of time. He roused the TD Garden crowd with a 3-pointer to open the scoring for the Celtics.

Porzingis finished the game with 23 minutes left with 16 points on 50% shooting, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks.

3-point shooting
There are too many options, so we commend the entire team for absolutely cooking from beyond the arc on Monday night.

Boston set an NBA record with 12 3-point shots made in the second quarter. That helped the Celtics set a franchise record with 51 points in the quarter, thanks to a completely absurd performance from the talented squad’s elite offense. The Celtics had five players stop at least two attempts from deep.

Payton Pritchard
OK, maybe a 3-point shooter stood out.

Pritchard dug deep and showed some serious range again in the third quarter with some deep daggers. Pritchard reached double figures before halftime and hit six more three-pointers to finish the game with 20 points.

Idiots
Clippers defense
The Clippers did their thing, but the Celtics, who didn’t really see any lackluster performances, were just too dominant on Monday night. They delivered a very different result than Los Angeles did at TD Garden in January.

Los Angeles hasn’t allowed 100 points in any of its last four games. The Celtics needed just 24 minutes to score 78 points at halftime and consistently scored everything they wanted against Ty Lue’s team.