Everything you need to know about the Lakers beating the Celtics 129-128 with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
Rondo hits game-winner in shootout: In his first game back at the TD Garden as a Laker, Rajon Rondo finished off a storybook ending for the former Celtic. The point guard corralled a loose ball with one second remaining and knocked down a mid-range jump shot to pull off the road win, capping off an 18-point rally for the Lakers. Rondo finished with a double-double (17 points, 10 assists), LeBron James added a triple-double (28 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists) while Kyle Kuzma had a monster second half (21 points) to give the Lakers a much-needed win. Kyrie Irving had a team-high 24 points for the Celtics, who blew a six-point lead in the game’s final two minutes in the defeat as Boston had their five-game winning streak snapped.
Kuzma 3-ball.
Kyrie runner.
Rondo game-winner.
? the final buckets down the stretch as the @Lakers outlast @celtics in Boston! #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/lNadmTDKG6
— NBA (@NBA) February 8, 2019
Lakers set franchise record from downtown:
The Celtics have been a top-5 team defending the 3-point line all year long but they let their guard down against Los Angeles, which allowed the Lakers to knock down a franchise-record 22 3-point attempts and shot a season-best 53.7 percent from 3-point range. That type of sharpshooting helped them overcome a miserable shooting night at the free throw line (7-of-18).
Celtics bench plays great before starters blow the game:
The Celtics' reserves plus Jayson Tatum played the best basketball for the C’s all night, featuring elite performances from Daniel Theis (20 points), Jaylen Brown (18 points) and Terry Rozier (19 points). That entire group was responsible for building an early double-digit lead and got the Celtics back into the game in the fourth quarter after the Lakers came back against the C’s first unit. Brad Stevens went back to the starters down the stretch in a move that proved to be costly as their woeful defense couldn’t get the stops needed to win the game.
TURNING POINT
The Lakers erased a nine-point halftime lead against the Celtics starters with an 18-6 run to start the second half. The shotmaking gave the visitors confidence over the remainder of the frame as they put up 42 points in the quarter and 72 total points in the second half, setting the stage for them to pull off the upset.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum:
The 20-year-old look like the best prospect on the court for the better part of 48 minutes on Thursday night, scoring a team-high 11 points for the Celtics in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting on his way to 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. It was his fourth straight double-digit scoring half dating back to Tuesday night, which helped carry the offensive load during an off night for several other starters.
Terry Rozier:
The reserve guard caught fire in a hurry in the second quarter, knocking down three 3s in just 10 minutes to put up a team-high 11 points and four assists in the first half. Boston’s bench unit pushed the first half lead all the way up to 18 points at one thanks to Rozier’s balanced outing in what could be considered his best performance in a reserve role all year.
TWO DOWN
Kyrie Irving:
The All-Star looked like he could have used another game of rest after putting together his worst shooting performance since opening night. He misfired on 15 of his first 18 shot attempts, which included getting his shot blocked four times at the basket. He shot just 30 percent from the field on the night, his least accurate performance since November.
Third quarter defense:
The Lakers put up a 42-point outburst largely on the back of hot shooting from 3-point range (9-of-13) with Kyle Kuzma leading the way with 14 points in the frame. Boston’s defense, particularly from the starting five, was incredibly soft for the entire period as the Lakers got all the shots they wanted from the perimeter with very little resistance.
TOP PLAY
WINDMILL JB pic.twitter.com/3iO1bkwWqF
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 6, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
This is the type of loss that will come back to haunt Celtics:
When you start the season with a 10-10 record, you can’t afford to lose games like this at home to an undermanned Lakers squad in the middle of a road trip. On a day when the road to the NBA Finals got a lot tougher in the midst of additions to every other East contender, the margin of error for Boston gets reduced and that includes the odds of Boston having home court advantage past round one. Any hope of catching the Raptors in the second seed diminishes when business can’t be taken care of against a .500 squad. With home losses now to the Knicks, Magic, Suns and Lakers at the TD Garden this year, it’s clear as day what games this team will look back to if they find themselves fighting for their lives on the road this postseason.
For one night, the decision to stand pat looks like the right one: Danny Ainge
has remained adamant that this is the group he wants to live and die this year with a lack of movement on trade deadline day. There can be a case made that upgrades could be had for an inconsistent bench unit but those issues were no apparent on Thursday night. That unit played the best basketball of the Celtics night all game long and probably would have helped the C’s pull out a victory if they got a bit more court time together. It was a loss in the small picture but performances like this from Brown, Theis and Rozier can have Ainge feeling optimistic about those guys continuing to turn their seasons around.