Amir Johnson, from the bench with a heating pad strapped to his sore back, had one of the best views in the house last night.
On one side, Chris Paul was hitting step-back 3-pointers from an improbable range, working his way up to a 35-point, 13-assist performance. Down the other end, Isaiah Thomas spent a lot of his time driving on DeAndre Jordan, the behemoth shot blocker, packing only the toughest shots into his own 36-point, 11-assist night.
The Celtics of the last three seasons have rarely won these marquee battles against opponents as good as the Los Angeles Clippers, even if Blake Griffin is on ice with a broken hand.