The Celtics survived an upset bid by a severely shorthanded Clippers squad Wednesday night, hanging on to win 117-113 in overtime.
Without the contributions of one of the last players on their bench, they likely wouldn’t have.
Seldom-used reserve guard Jaden Springer was a second-half game-changer for Boston, notching four steals and hitting a pair of clutch 3-pointers after checking in late in the third quarter to boost the Celtics’ defense.
Springer played the final 4:18 of the third, all but 31 seconds in the fourth quarter and all but 30 seconds in the five-minute overtime period. His 20 minutes smashed his previous season high of 13 and were more than he’d logged in the Celtics’ previous 10 games combined.
“Springer was unbelievable tonight,” Jayson Tatum told reporters at the Intuit Dome. “… Super impressive. That’s being the ultimate professional. You never know when you’re going to play. Game not going the way that it’s supposed to and we expect, and Joe (Mazzulla) calls your number to come shut somebody down and give us a spark off the bench, and he did that.”
The 22-year-old defensive specialist was not part of Mazzulla’s initial game plan, but the Celtics head coach called on him to help stop a rocket-fueled scoring binge by Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. When Springer entered, Porter had scored 13 points over the previous seven minutes and 24 total, helping power a Clippers team that was missing four of its usual starters. He scored just two points the rest of the game, recording more turnovers (two) than made baskets (1-for-6).
As a team, the Clippers made just two field goals over Springer’s first four-plus minutes of floor time, during which he grabbed three of his four steals. LA also had a 6:29 scoring drought that spanned more than half of the fourth quarter.
Springer’s impact helped fill the defensive void left by starting guard Jrue Holiday, who sat out Wednesday night along with fellow veterans Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.
“He’s just got an innate skill to impact the game with his physicality and his defense,” Mazzulla said in his postgame news conference. “I thought it’s what the game needed at the time. I thought their guards were a little too comfortable, and he has an ability to really change the game in that way. Hat off to him.
“I think one of the best things you can do in this league is to just deliver when your name is called, regardless of when it is, so it’s a credit to him.”
Springer’s limitations on the offensive end are significant, and a large reason why he’s been unable to crack Mazzulla’s regular rotation since he arrived via trade last February. He’s a 22.2% career 3-point shooter and hadn’t hit a three all season entering Wednesday’s game. The Clippers had little respect for him as a shooting threat, content to leave him uncovered on the perimeter to focus their efforts on Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the rest of Boston’s primary scorers.
But Springer made LA pay by sinking one 3-pointer that put Boston up six with 3:05 remaining in regulation, then another with 34.1 to play in overtime that proved to be the game-winner. The first came off an assist from Brown; the second from Tatum.
“Basketball is about making reads — the right reads,” Tatum told reporters. “They left him open; he got in the corner. You’ve got to make the right play, and he stepped up big-time tonight and knocked some big shots down and got some stops.”
In a postgame interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin, Springer said his goal when he took the floor was to “go in there and make a difference.”
“Go out there and play defense,” he said. “Play hard. That’s what they told me to do. My teammates trusted me all night. They were cheering me on. So, shoutout to them for having my back the whole time.”
Before Wednesday, most of Springer’s non-garbage-time appearances this season had come in niche end-of-quarter scenarios, with Mazzulla inserting him to lower the opponent’s odds of hitting a long-range buzzer-beater. Will his play against the Clippers earn him more regular playing time?
Springer’s performance also could boost his stock as the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches. His $4 million salary makes him the most likely Celtic to be moved ahead of deadline day, either to bring in a different bench option or to provide some modest luxury tax relief.
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