The Boston Celtics showed their ceiling and their floor against playoff-caliber competition without All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo on Sunday afternoon.

Boston played its most offensively prolific first half of the season, shooting 53 percent from the floor, 14-for-16 from the free throw line and putting a season high 59 points on the board.  Ten Celtics scored and no player shot more than six times.  The defense forced nine turnovers in the second quarter and allowed only 10 points.  The offense only turned the ball over five times the entire half, and Boston coasted to a 19-point lead at halftime.

Then the Clippers reversed the narrative.  Los Angeles shot 57 percent from the field in the second half and turned the ball over just six times.  The Celtics managed to guard the lead en route to a 106-104 victory at TD Garden in Boston despite getting outscored 27-14 in the final quarter.

The Celtics (24-23) had a 103-101 lead with the ball and a 2.5-second difference between the shot clock and the game clock.  The Clippers (34-15) elected not to foul and Paul Pierce made them pay,  nailing a step-back 3-pointer over an extended Matt Barnes as the shot clock expired.  Pierce finished with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists.  Jamal Crawford responded with a game-ending three that came too late.

Before Pierce’s three, Los Angeles had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead for the first time since the first quarter.  Crawford pivoted to create space for a shot near the top of the key, just outside the free throw line. But Avery Bradley played aggressive defense, eventually drawing an elbow and an offensive foul.

Crawford played with a face mask for part of the game after fracturing his nose late in a blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors Friday night.  He took off the mask near the end of the first half and scored 20 points in the final 15 minutes.

Chris Paul watched the game next to Chauncey Billiups on the Clippers bench.  He missed his seventh consecutive game due to a bruised right kneecap.  The Clippers are 2-5 in those games and have lost five of their last six on the road. Backup guard Eric Bledsoe finished with 23 points, ten rebounds and seven assists.  Blake Griffin had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Jason Collins, playing in his 700^th NBA game, scored a season-high seven points and effectively filled in for Kevin Garnett, who got into foul trouble battling with Griffin in the post.

During the game Sporting News’ Sean Deveney reported that the Clippers are interested in trading for Garnett.  The purported deal would send Bledsoe and forward Caron Butler to Boston and require Garnett to waive his no-trade clause.

Boston travels to Toronto to face the Raptors and Rudy Gay Wednesday night.  Gay scored 20 points in his first game as a Raptor, a 98-73 win over the Clippers.  This new Raptor team expects to challenge the Celtics for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  Whether or not that will happen partially depends on whether the Celtics of the first half or the second half show up for the remainder of the season.