Five takeaways as unlikely hero helps Celtics to overtime win over Clippers

The Celtics outlasted the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime Wednesday night, winning 117-113 while a cavalcade of key players from both sides watched in street clothes.

Boston blew a six-point lead late in regulation but scored nine of the first 11 points in overtime, then withstood a late LA rally.

Jaylen Brown (25 points), Jayson Tatum (24 points) and Derrick White (20 points) powered the Celtics’ scoring effort, and each hit a 3-pointer during the extra session. Seldom-used guard Jaden Springer also helped swing the game in Boston’s favor, recording four steals and two made threes after entering late in the third quarter.

The Celtics, who improved to 31-13 with the win, will visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Here are five takeaways from Wednesday’s victory:

1. DNP rundown

There was about as much star power on the Intuit Dome benches Wednesday night as there was on the court.

The Clippers, on Day 4 of a four-games-and-five-day slog, sat nearly everyone of consequence on their roster. No James Harden. No Kawhi Leonard. No Norman Powell. No Ivica Zubac, Kris Dunn or Nicolas Batum. Derrick Jones Jr. was the only LA starter who suited up, and no active Clipper came in averaging more than Amir Coffey’s 10.3 points per game.

The Celtics’ top stars played, but veterans Jrue Holiday (shoulder), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Al Horford (toe) all were inactive on the front end of a back-to-back.

All told, the teams had just four of their 10 preferred starters available: Jones for the Clippers and Tatum, Brown and Derrick White for the Celtics. Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet filled the vacancies in Boston’s starting five.

2. Springer turns the tide

Though the Celtics didn’t need to deal with the likes of Harden and Leonard, they struggled to contain Jones (29 points), Coffey (24 points) and Kevin Porter Jr. (26 points), all of whom enjoyed stretches of red-hot shooting.

Jones went 8-for-11 and 3-for-3 from three in a 19-point first half. Coffey scored 14 before halftime on 5-of-7 shooting. The Clippers made a habit of hitting tough shots from tricky angles, going 8-for-11 on non-paint twos in the first half (the league average on those shots: 40.9%). In the third quarter, Porter was the one giving the Celtics fits, scoring 13 points on just six shots.

The Celtics were able to stem this tide late, thanks in part to the insertion of an unexpected difference-maker: Springer. Known for his defensive prowess, the end-of-the-bench guard notched three steals in his first four minutes of floor time, helping hold the Clippers to two made field goals over the final 5:01 of the third.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla clearly liked what he saw from Springer. He proceeded to play the 22-year-old for nearly the entire fourth quarter and most of the overtime period. He grabbed a fourth steal — tying his season total entering Wednesday — and erased Porter, who scored just two points after Springer checked in for the first time.

Springer’s offensive game remains undeveloped, but he also hit two clutch threes: one that put Boston up 99-93 with 3:05 remaining in regulation and another with 34.1 seconds let in overtime that proved to be the game-winner.

3. Another crunch-time fumble

Four days after coughing up a late lead in an overtime loss to Atlanta, the Celtics suffered through a similar final-minute meltdown. The blame for this one fell on Brown.

Up four with less than a minute remaining, Brown missed a 12-footer on one possession, was whistled for an offensive foul on the next and then threw a wild pass that was stolen by Jones for a game-tying layup with four seconds to play. The Celtics then were unable to get a shot off before the final horn sounded, sending the game to overtime.

Boston was able to recover and hold on for a four-point win, but it’ll need to shore up its crunch-time execution before the playoffs arrive.

4. Deep bench gets some run

Springer wasn’t the only non-rotation player to see action Wednesday night.

The Celtics’ trifecta of DNPs led to some unconventional lineup combinations. One that head coach Joe Mazzulla sent out late in the first quarter featured Tatum surrounded Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh and rookie Baylor Scheierman.

It was Scheierman’s first time playing in the first quarter of an NBA game and just the second time he’d entered a game before garbage time. His outing was short-lived, however: The first-round draft pick played six minutes and then sat for the rest of the night.

Scheierman recently was recalled from the G League, where he’d been posting strong numbers, and enjoyed his best NBA performance to date in Monday’s blowout win over Golden State. In this one, he missed both of his 3-point attempts and was the closet defender on at least two made Clippers threes.

Walsh, who’s filtered in and out of Mazzulla’s rotation this season, delivered some impressive moments in his early shift. He hit his lone 3-point attempt, helped force a shot-clock violation with stingy defense and grabbed an offensive rebound that set up a Pritchard three.

5. Hauser finding his stroke

Hauser has lacked his usual efficiency from 3-point range this season, likely a byproduct of the lingering back injury he’s dealt with since the summer. A career 41.2% 3-point shooter, he entered Wednesday shooting just 36.8% from deep. He was highly effective against the Clippers, however, going 5-for-7 from three to finish with 15 points.

Hauser also went 3-for-6 in Monday’s win over the Warriors after going 4-for-20 over his previous four games.

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