By Matt Geagan
January 23, 2025 / 8:57 AM EST / CBS Boston
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics had to battle for an overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. They wouldn’t have gotten the victory if it weren’t for rarely-used guard Jaden Springer.
Springer got his first extended run for the Celtics since Dec. 19, and changed the game with his defense late in the third quarter. The shorthanded Clippers — who were down seven players, including Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Norman Powell — had taken control thanks to Kevin Porter Jr., who rarely missed over the first 28 minutes of the game.
The fifth-year Clippers guard had 11 points in the first half, and then started to really take over in the third. It didn’t matter if it was Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, or anyone else guarding Porter Jr., he was getting buckets at will.
He put Nemias Queta into the spin cycle before he hit a turnaround jay. He drained a three over Payton Pritchard. Porter Jr. was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor for 13 points in the third.
He did all of that over the first eight minutes of the quarter. But that ended when Joe Mazzulla sent Springer in for the final 4:18 of the frame.
Jaden Springer’s defense changed the game for Celtics
Springer checked in and immediately brought some much-needed intensity on the defensive end. He glued himself to Porter Jr. and cooled off Los Angeles’ hottest player the rest of the way.
Porter Jr. went scoreless to close out the quarter, because Springer didn’t let him get off another shot. Springer locked him up at the three-point line and swiped his first steal of the game just over a minute after checking in. He had another steal on Derrick Jones Jr. a minute after that and got a pair of free throws out of the possession. He had another theft in the closing seconds of the quarter as the Clippers tried to race down for a buzzer-beater.
Springer’s strong play to close the third earned him extended run in the fourth quarter, as he played all but 31 seconds to close out regulation. He logged his fourth steal of the night midway through the frame when he swiped the ball from Porter Jr. again before getting fouled. That gave Springer four steals over a 12-minute span.
Porter Jr. had no answers for Springer, as he went 0-of-3 in the fourth and was just 1-of-5 after Springer checked in. Los Angeles’ shooting cratered from 60 percent to 40 percent after Springer put his fingerprints all over the game — and the ball.
Springer’s physical play threw Porter Jr. out of rhythm, and helped the rest of the Celtics pick up their defensive intensity. The Celtics had 11 steals for the game, with eight of those coming in the second half. The Clippers turned the ball over 22 times in the game.
Jaden Spinger hit two big shots on offense too
While Springer made his biggest impact as a defensive specialist on Wednesday, he also hit a pair of key threes for Boston. After airballing a corner three with 3:47 left, he canned a triple with 3:05 on the clock to push the Celtics’ lead to 99-93.
The Celtics ended up blowing a four-point lead with 19 seconds left and the game went to overtime. The usual suspects hit threes, with Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Derrick White connecting from downtown for Boston, but Springer sealed the deal with his second three with 34.5 seconds left, pushing the C’s lead to five.
Springer played 20 minutes and had eight points off 2-of-6 shooting, two rebounds, and his four thefts.
With such a hefty payroll and Springer rarely seeing the court since he was acquired at last year’s deadline, he’s the likeliest Celtic to get dealt on Feb. 6. But without him and his fierce defense, the Celtics likely wouldn’t have won Wednesday night’s tilt in Los Angeles.
Matt GeaganMatthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.
