Clippers guard Jordan Miller, left, and Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, right, reach for a rebound along with guard Kobe Brown during the first half on Wednesday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, right, shoots as Clippers guard Terance Mann defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Terance Mann, left, dunks as Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta stands by during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Terance Mann, left, finishes his dunk as Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown stands by during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta, left, shoots as Clippers guard Terance Mann defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, left, reaches in on Clippers center Mo Bamba during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr., left, gestures after hitting a 3-point shot as guard Bones Hyland points at him during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, top, shoots as Clippers guard Bones Hyland defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr., right, tries to pass while under pressure from Boston Celtics forward Baylor Scheierman, left, and guard Jaylen Brown during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Kobe Brown, left, shoots as Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Baylor Scheierman, left, shoots as Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Amir Coffey, left, shoots as Boston Celtics forward Baylor Scheierman defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Rams head coach Sean McVay, center, looks at Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum during the first half of an NBA basketball game between the Clippers and the Celtics , Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet, left, and Clippers center Mo Bamba grapple for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Amir Coffey, left, and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum reach for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Terance Mann shoots during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, right, celebrates after hitting a 3-point shot as Clippers guard Amir Coffey stands by during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr., left, is fouled while shooting by Boston Celtics guard Derrick White during the second half on Wednesday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. Jones scored a career-high 29 points to lead the severely short-handed Clippers in a 117-113 loss. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta, right, shoots as Clippers guard Terance Mann defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta (88) shoots as Clippers guard Terance Mann (14) and forward Derrick Jones Jr. defend during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Kobe Brown, below, and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum grapple for a loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, left, shoots as Clippers guard Terance Mann defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Bones Hyland, right, tries to shoot as Boston Celtics guard Derrick White defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, left hits Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. in the face as he drives by him during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. (55) blocks a shot by Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) as time runs out in regulation during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr., center, shoots as Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, left, and forward Sam Hauser defend during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. gestures after hitting a three-point shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta, right, shoots as Clippers guard Terance Mann defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, right, knocks the ball from the hands of Clippers guard Kobe Brown during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics head coach Joseph Mazzulla speaks with guard Jaylen Brown during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Clippers, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr., left, shoots as Boston Celtics guard Jaden Springer defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, center, shoots as Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr., left, and guard Kevin Porter Jr. defend during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum gestures prior to a game against the Clippers, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Show Caption1 of 33Clippers guard Jordan Miller, left, and Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, right, reach for a rebound along with guard Kobe Brown during the first half on Wednesday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Expand INGLEWOOD — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue sat speechless at the podium for several moments before Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Celtics. With a game like this, without six of your top eight rotation players, what are you looking forward to the most? A few more seconds went by. “I don’t know,” Lue said. With Kawhi Leonard sitting out his second game in a row and joined by James Harden, Norman Powell, Ivica Zubac, Kris Dunn and Nicolas Batum on the bench, the outlook was bleak for the Clippers. These were the reigning NBA champion Celtics after all, who at 31-13 have the third-best record in the league. The team with the two-pronged punch of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. What Lue couldn’t have imagined 90 minutes before tipoff was that the Clippers would be competitive, pushing the Celtics until the final minute before falling in overtime, 117-113, at the Intuit Dome. “When you play hard, you can compete. That’s what happens. You’re in every game. You have a chance to win and still at the end,” Lue said. “But like I said, I’m proud of our guys, our young guys, for getting the opportunity to play and doing a good job.” Derrick Jones Jr. scored a career-high 29 points (17 in the first quarter) to lead the Clippers. Kevin Porter Jr. added a season-high 26 and Amir Coffey had 24 in a game that featured 16 ties and 25 lead changes. “I’m very confident in the group that we got, no matter who steps out on the floor,” Jones said. “We got the chemistry that we have, and I mean the belief that we have in each other is through the roof. So, nothing surprised me today.” By overtime, the Clippers appeared to have little left as they struggled to score while the Celtics buried back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the extra period and take a 109-103 lead less than a minute into OT. After a layup by Jones, Jaylen Brown buried another long-range shot for a 112-105 lead. But the Clippers weren’t done. With 30 seconds left, Coffey completed a three-point play to cut the margin to 115-113 before time ran out on the Clippers’ potential upset. The Celtics’ Neemias Queta closed the scoring with a reverse layup with six seconds left. “We just knew what we had to do, which was basically play hard, play defense, and then just be aggressive on the offensive end,” said Terance Mann, who along with Coffey played 45 minutes. “And I think we did a great job of that. They hit a couple tough 3’s, so that kind of set us back in the overtime period.” Jones had tied the score at 103-all with four seconds left in regulation, then batted away an attempted pass to send the game into overtime. Nine Clippers stuck with the Celtics throughout the game. Jones took the task of the Clippers facing the Celtics without their stars in stride. He said it’s always “next man up” with the Clippers. “I just took it like another game,” Jones said. “Obviously I was just a little bit more aggressive, just getting my shots off, but it was just another game.” Down 96-91 with less than four minutes left in regulation, Jones trimmed the lead with a floater, but the Celtics answered for a six-point lead. Jones, whose role has been reduced since Leonard’s return earlier this month, was hit in the head by Jaylen Brown on a layup and remained down on the court for several minutes before making both free throws. Coffey made a free throw on a technical foul called on Derrick White to pull the Clippers within 101-97. After Brown made two free throws, Terance Mann kept the Clippers’ hopes of an upset alive with a reverse layup to trim the lead to 103-99 with a minute left. Coffey broke free for a basket with 12 seconds remaining to cut the lead 103-101. The Clippers had led 89-83 on Coffey’s turnaround jumper shortly into the fourth quarter but their lead faded fast as the Celtics got into a rhythm. White’s pull up 3-pointer put Boston ahead 90-89 with 8:40 left much to the delight of the green-clad fans who filled much of the section opposite of The Wall. Tatum buried his third 3-pointer of the game for a 93-89 lead, followed by a 29-footer from White for the Celtics’ biggest lead of the night (96-89). The game was messy with the teams combining for 41 turnovers (the Clippers turned it over 23 times). “You hate to see a loss like that, but 23 turnovers makes it really hard to beat a good team,” Lue said. “We turned the ball over too many times, but our guys kept fighting, kept competing down to the wire.” Still the Clippers trailed by just one at halftime (60-59) behind Jones, who got the Clippers’ hopes going with his strong first quarter. He finished the night with seven rebounds and three assists. Coffey had 14 of his points in the first quarter as well. And players such as Bones Hyland (eight points), Jordan Miller (six points) and Kobe Brown (11 rebound, two blocked shots) made the most of their opportunity. Related Articles Clippers | Clippers’ steady Ivica Zubac has everyone taking notice Clippers | Depleted Clippers see their win streak end against Bulls Clippers | Swanson: What would it take for the Clippers to gain ground on the Lakers? Clippers | Lakers’ slim margin of error, uncertain identity exposed in loss to Clippers Clippers | Clippers welcome Lakers to Intuit Dome with dominant win Lue said before the Clippers’ current stretch of six games in nine nights, that his approach would be to take it “game by game.” The team would prioritize the players’ health and well-being and sit them if necessary. This was one of those games. “We have a lot of guys on the team with some little nagging injuries that we got to try to be careful with,” Lue said. The Clippers have two more home games on Thursday and Saturday before going on the road for four games in eight days on a trip that takes them from Phoenix to San Antonio to Charlotte to Toronto. Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and Tatum had 24 to pace the Celtics. White added 20 points and Sam Hauser had 15. The Celtics were vulnerable, having lost six of their past 10 games heading into the first of back-to-back games in Los Angeles. They play at the Lakers on Thursday. They also had three key players out – Jrue Holiday (shoulder), Al Horford (toe) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness).