Jaylen Brown tied his career-high with 50 points on Saturday night, leading the Celtics to a runaway 146-115 win over the Clippers at the Intuit Dome.
Brown scored 19 of his 50 points in the third quarter as Boston turned a competitive first half into a rout, outscoring the Clippers 75-52 after intermission. Brown hit the 50-point mark in just 35 minutes of action before he was pulled off the court to a standing ovation from Celtics fans in attendance with three minutes remaining in the blowout.
Brown’s stellar performance highlighted a sensational performance by Boston’s offense. The visitors shot 55 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range against a Clippers squad that struggled to match Boston’s speed and intensity as the game wore on. Derrick White added 29 points in the victory while six different Celtics scored in double figures in Boston’s third straight win.
Boston’s victory snapped a six-game winning streak for the Clippers as Ty Lue benched his starters midway through the fourth quarter after Boston opened the frame on an 18-8 run. Kawhi Leonard finished with a team-high 22 points in the loss.
The Celtics head back to Boston on Sunday after closing out a 4-1 road trip. They will face the Bulls at TD Garden on Monday night.
Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win over the Clippers:
**Celtics make starting lineup change:** Joe Mazzulla made the first shift with his (healthy) starting five in nearly two months on Saturday night, opting for Sam Hauser over Jordan Walsh. The move was a change back to the team’s starting look for the first two games of the regular season after the team had been dealing with slow starts throughout the road trip. The move paid dividends as Boston jumped out to a 42-point first quarter with Hauser hitting a couple early 3s. Walsh remained in the rotation though and even played some backup minutes at center when Mazzulla elected to go small in the first half.
**Jaylen Brown took the game over in third quarter:** The Celtics star was playing with a chip on his shoulder all night after being snubbed for the East Player of the Month award on Friday. However, he reached a different level in the third quarter to help Boston regain control of the game against a red-hot Clippers squad. The All-Star erupted for 19 points in the frame, making seven of his eight shot attempts including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. The makes featured an array of acrobatic shots from the midrange and beyond the arc that drew plenty of love from Boston’s bench including Jayson Tatum. The outburst helped Boston rebuild a double-digit lead entering the fourth quarter while outscoring the Clippers 42-36 in the frame and the Clippers never seriously threatened again.
**It was more intense than your usual regular season game:** The Clippers entered this game having won six straight games by double digits behind the stellar play of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. The energy at the Intuit Dome was higher than usual, with the Celtics eager to take on the challenge in their toughest game of the road trip. Boston came out hungry early, playing with great pace offensively and the Clippers answered with some terrific offense of their own early on. Ultimately, Boston hit a different level in the second half behind Brown and White, showing why they look like they belong among the East contenders while the Clippers are in the Western Conference play-in picture.
**A tremendous road trip for Boston**: Boston had an opportunity to go on a run out west by facing five teams with sub .500 records and they took advantage of the easy schedule with a 4-1 road trip capped by a stellar performance in Los Angeles. The team has now won seven of their last eight games overall and are within one game of the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East.