BSJ Game Report: Celtics 121, Lakers 113: Jaylen Brown's historic night fuels 5th straight win

Everything you need to know about Boston's 121-113 win over the L.A. Lakers, with BSJ insight and analysis. 

Box Score

What a night for Jaylen Brown.  Brown is the first Celtics player with 40 points on 85% shooting in a game in franchise history. He almost wasn’t, but the bench collapsed and forced him back into the game and he picked up the last couple of points to complete his 40-piece. There’s no other way to put it, Brown got whatever he wanted and he cashed in. 

Bench embarrassment. This is the second time this season the Celtics have had to reinsert the starters because the bench blew a garbage time lead. They couldn’t hold on to a 27 point cushion, and while it allowed Brown to make history, they were lucky no one got hurt in the final minutes.

It got too sloppy... again. The Celtics turned the ball over 21 times, their fourth 20+ turnover game. 

“We have a tendency to be loose with the ball, and we have to stop that,” Brad Stevens said after the game. “Our best teams have always been in the top five of turnovers. It’s always been Kemba’s team’s strengths, as a point guard of teams. And we have to make sure that we do a better job of taking care of the ball as a team.”

The Celtics have actually won three of those four high-turnover games. That’s not a stat that will hold up.

“It will bite us in time, whether it’s Saturday night against Golden State, because they make you pay - turnovers become three points on the other end,” Stevens said. “But it’ll bite us if we don’t clean it up, for sure. We’ve got to clean it up. Can’t keep playing like that and expect to win.”

TURNING POINT

The jump ball? Boston jumped out to a 14-2 lead right out of the gate. We can also pick any time in the game the starters returned to clean up the mess made by the bench. The starters scored 92 of the 121 points, while Boston’s bench was outscored 69-26.

TOP PLAY

https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1382894899431833606

FIVE UP

Jaylen Brown: On one hand, he was really cooking. On the other, he was also making the right plays. He had one possession in the third quarter where he had space to rise up for a heat-check 3-pointer, which would have been very understandable. Instead, he hit Kornet rolling, who turned and swung it to Payton Pritchard for a 3. 

Tristan Thompson: He was big in the first half, dropping 10 points and 5 rebounds and taking advantage of a slower Marc Gasol. He was a problem for the Lakers starting unit. 

Marcus Smart & Kemba Walker: I’m lumping these guys together because they were both incredibly selective and efficient with their shooting, combining to shoot 9-16 (5-9 3pt). They dished 11 assists as well, providing the right level of support for Brown and, to a lesser degree, Jayson Tatum who took his turn as a bystander in this one.

Payton Pritchard: He tends to take some bad shots, but he still shot 3-6 from deep and was the only bench player to give Boston anything significant. 

ONE DOWN

The bench: I’m just lumping the rest of the guys in here (Sorry Luke Kornet, who wasn’t that bad, really). The bench was outscored 69-26. They lost the bench minutes by FORTY THREE POINTS in a game they won by eight. 

Kendrick Perkins dropped some big facts on the C’s bench unit that blew that 27 point lead. Here’s his full quote: 

“When you come into the game, you’re still fighting for your livelihood. We’re talking about guys who are still on rookie contracts. When you’re on a rookie contract, every minute is valuable. Every possession is valuable. You don’t know who’s watching. It’s not just Brad Stevens or Danny Ainge and the Celtics organization, but they have other scouts from other teams that are watching. Not only watching to scout the Celtics and send in a report sheet, but they’re watching to see other talent, who’s coming up for free agency so they can keep their eye on them in case the Celtics don't want them. So you’re always auditioning for a job in the NBA, especially when you’re a third string-type player.”

This is great perspective on the business of the NBA. For you and me, this was meaningless. The guys on that floor won’t see the floor in the playoffs unless something has gone horribly wrong, or incredibly right (and considering this performance, that might not even happen). But for them, this was a blown opportunity to put up a good performance on national TV. 

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

This game actually wasn’t much different than some of the stinkers of recent past. It might seem odd but I think this game actually highlights the point I’ve been making for most of the season. 

In the games where Boston lost to Sacramento or Cleveland, the Celtics actually came out getting decent shots that didn’t fall. Meanwhile, the other team got hot and ran away with things. 

The Lakers got good looks that didn’t fall while Boston’s did. The Celtics still turned the ball over a lot and they gave the Lakers chances that the very depleted L.A. team couldn't take advantage of. This was an 11 point game for a large portion of the night, but that fact will get lost in the epic collapse after what was a 27 point lead. It was 91-79 heading into the fourth quarter. 

That's only a 12 point game. Take away Brown's insane shooting night and have the non-Marc Gasol Lakers starters have something better than the worst nights of  their lives and suddenly this game looks a lot more like some of the unhappy memories made about a month ago.

There is certainly some make/miss stuff at play here, but also this shows what a mostly-whole Celtics team can do versus what it tried to do earlier this season and failed.

Boston sort of played with its food here, getting casual for too-long stretches and turning it on as needed long enough to keep the Lakers at arm's length. They tried to this stuff with other bad teams but they had neither the energy nor the resolve to pull it off.

And that's the difference between this Celtics team and the bad one from a month ago. Both version of the C's came into similar situations and had little respect for their opponent. Back then, it bit them in the butt. Here, one of their stars got scorching hot and they managed to do enough when they needed to make it look easy. They actually looked like a good team toying with a bad team in this game. When they decided to flex, they went on a monster run to start the fourth and built a 27 point lead.

The lineups are different this time around, but the biggest difference is health and circumstance. A game like this really hammers home how much the circumstances mattered during the worst of this season.