Boston @ LA Game Overview

Coming off a stretch where they lost four times in seven games, the Celtics found little resistance while thumping the short-handed Golden State Warriors 125-85 on Monday in San Francisco. Jayson Tatum scored 22 points and hauled in nine rebounds for Boston.

The contest was the start of a four-game trip that will remain in Los Angeles for a meeting with the rival Lakers on Thursday before a visit to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

The Celtics were all business from the outset on Monday, taking a 54-39 halftime lead. Boston then outscored Golden State 43-24 in the third quarter, where Tatum had 12 points and Jaylen Brown delivered nine of his 17. Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points in the game.

The Celtics shot 53.3 percent from the floor, while the Warriors finished at 34.8 percent.

"I think (it was) just our attention to detail to start the game on the defensive end and then just our physicality," Tatum said. "(Coach) Joe (Mazzulla) said at halftime he just felt like we were locked in and our physicality kind of dominated the game."

Porzingis, who has missed 24 games this season due to injury, has averaged 20.6 points and 8.6 rebounds over his past seven contests.

"I just think (Porzingis) is getting more comfortable," Mazzulla said. "Obviously, we want to involve him as much as we can."

Boston will face another short-handed team on Wednesday.

The Clippers enter the meeting coming off a 112-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday that ended a four-game winning streak. Kawhi Leonard was out on the second night of a back-to-back to rest his ailing knee that caused him to miss the first 34 games of the season.

Also out was center Ivica Zubac, who was poked in the eye during the Clippers' victory over the Lakers on Sunday. Zubac averages 12.7 rebounds, the fourth-best mark in the NBA, to go along with 15.0 points per game.

Leonard and Zubac have already been ruled out against the Celtics for the front end of another back-to-back, while Norman Powell (back) and James Harden (groin) are questionable. The Celtics listed Jrue Holiday (shoulder) and Al Horford (toe) as questionable for the front end of their own back-to-back.

Powell scored 27 points and Harden added 17 on Monday, but the Clippers cobbled together just 16 points in the third quarter and were outscored by 20 in the frame.

Mo Bamba received his first start of the season in place of Zubac and collected 10 points and seven boards. Los Angeles was outrebounded 54-40.

"Offensively, we just played way too slow," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. "We let them get back (on defense), let them get set. When we're playing small, you gotta play fast and we talked about it. ... The only good thing about us offensively, we only had 10 turnovers."

Because of rescheduling scenarios, after the Clippers had a game postponed earlier this month because of deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area, they now have a logjam of six games in 10 days -- a stretch that started Sunday.

"Take it game by game," Lue said. "Don't look at it as six games in nine nights, four in five; just take it game by game."

--Field Level Media