The two hottest teams in the NBA will face off Monday night as the Boston Celtics host the Los Angeles Clippers.
Both teams come into the game with five-game winning streaks, and the winner will have the longest current streak in the league.
This will be the second game in as many days for both teams.
Boston extended its streak with a 107-105 win over Minnesota on Sunday. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 29 points, helping them improve their home record to 6-2.
“I haven’t shot the ball to start off the season as well as I would have liked,” Brown said. “I feel like I’m due for a lot of makes. I feel like my shots were good. I feel like I’m a great shooter, but also feel like I’m great at other things as well — getting to the basket, getting to the paint, drawing opportunities for my guys. So it’s just a balance. It’s a long season and I’m just focused on trying to rack up wins.”
Brown finished 10 of 18 from the field, including 7 of 10 from three-point range. He scored the first 15 points of the game for Boston on five 3-pointers.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla also praised Brown’s defense, especially his effort against Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards on the final possession of the game.
“Yeah, it’s great to have a player of his caliber take defense to another level and take matchups,” Mazzulla said. “When your best players are some of your best defenders, it can kind of set the tone for your team in the locker room defensively. So, he takes pride in individual matchups, and he did a great job defensively.”
The Clippers extended their streak with a 125-99 win over Philadelphia on Sunday. James Harden contributed 23 points and eight assists, and Ivica Zubac added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“We run plays for him just to try and get him touches and establish Zu on the low block,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Zubac. “When he’s the anchor of your defense you gotta keep him happy. Having him block shots, having him blitzing pick and rolls, having him be the anchor and talking on the back side, you have to reward him with some touches, and so we’ve been able to do that.”
The Clippers have held their last four opponents—Golden State, Orlando, Sacramento, and Philadelphia—under 100 points. They are 6-0 this season when their opponent scores fewer than 100 points.
“You know right now we’re just working hard, playing together, trying to do the right things on the floor and right now it’s paying off,” Kris Dunn said.
Norman Powell missed his third straight game on Sunday with a sore hamstring. Powell is the Clippers’ leading scorer with 23.3 points per game.
Boston center Luke Kornet sat out Sunday’s game due to a hamstring injury. Al Horford played against Minnesota, but he is expected to rest for Monday’s game, as he usually sits out when the Celtics play on consecutive days.
