BSJ Game Report: Lakers 117, Celtics 96 - C's go cold, get run out of the gym by the Lakers

Everything you need to know about the Celtics loss to the Lakers, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Lakers opened up a nine-point lead with a big late run after the teams played even to start the game. That run rolled into the second, pushing the lead to 19 behind hot shooting from 3 and Boston’s inability to hit anything from anywhere. Boston cut into the lead in the third, but they also missed a lot of chances to get it to single digits, so the best they could manage was a 14-point deficit going into the fourth. They had nothing after that, and the lead quickly grew to 25, which led to garbage time. The Celtics have gone 3-8 after a win since December 15.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Didn’t have it: The Celtics did have the game tied at 16-16 and within three at 25-22 in the first, but their offense never looked great other than Kristaps Porzingis picking on early mismatches. The never developed any kind of offensive flow and showed up, as usual, in misses and isolation play. They looked out of sorts the whole night. 

- Cold shooting again: They were 14-41 from 3 overall, but that was propped up by Sam Hauser and Jaden Springer going 4-4 combined in the fourth after the game was decided. They shot 10-32 from 3 through three quarters. Their 2-9 in the second was a killer against the Lakers’ 6-10. It’s not a shock that they struggled like that considering how poorly spaced their offense was.

- Defensive issues: Offense flows into defense, which lows back into offense, and so on. They gave up 14 points in the paint in the first quarter, partly because the Lakers had eight fast-break points. It was their third game in four nights, and it was pretty obvious early on that their energy wasn’t where it needed to be. 

TURNING POINT

The Celtics cut the halftime lead to 12 at the 7:19 mark and had the following sequence of events:

• Porzingis blocked Anthony Davis, followed by a Derrick White turnover
• After a Rui Hachimura missed 3-pointer, Boston missed three 3-pointers in a single possession (after two offensive rebounds by White)
• After White blocked Austin Reaves, Jayson Tatum was fouled and missed two free throws. 
• After a Max Christie missed 3, Jaylen Brown was fouled and missed two free throws. 

That happened at the 4:54 mark. That's 2:25 of play with Boston down 12. They left seven points on the board with the missed free throws and three empty 3-point attempts. The turnover was another potential basket. Convert the free throws and one of those other opportunities and this could have been a five or six-point game. Instead, the Lakers went on a 9-4 run and blew it open to start the fourth quarter

THINGS I LIKED

I got nothing for ya on this one today. I don’t even think this goes down as a horrible loss, either. There have been worse losses for Boston this year for sure. But even their third quarter comeback attempt was full of mistakes aside from those I highlighted. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

The offensive spacing: The ball didn’t move well at all in this game. I thought they were haphazard for most of the game and it cost them. I always felt like they were a step away from running into each other. When that happens, the offense always devolves into isolation because there are no other options. 

Rebounding and defense: I knew this was going to be a problem right away because the first two Lakers buckets were second chances and then things got super frantic and up-and-down. The Celtic never really had a stretch where they controlled the pace of this game. 

Missed layups: As much as the cold shooting from 3 was a problem, the Celtics were 10-26 in the restricted area. TEN FOR TWENTY SIX! That's 38.5% The worst team in the restricted area this season, the Charlotte Hornets, shoot 62%. 

That is ungodly bad. And each of those misses leads to easy run-outs, so it’s no wonder the Lakers killed them in transition and shot well. 

Jrue Holiday: I highlighted a different stretch of the third quarter that killed Boston, but Holiday opened the quarter by blowing a layup after Brown opened things up by making a 3. Then he turned the ball over after another stop. This was rough night for him. He had just three points on 1-6 shooting. 

Derrick White: A rough shooting night for him, too, going just 1-5 overall. 

Payton Pritchard: He shot 2-12 overall and just 1-5 from 3. 

Luke Kornet: He got picked on. He was every bit of a -14 in his 11:38 of play. The Lakers targeted him in a big way. 

Al Horford: I should have just said the bench, in general, here. Horford struggled in a massive way. The Celtics bench completely failed them in this game. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- This is why you close out games when you have a chance

The Celtics didn’t need to go into overtime against the Clippers, but they botched the end of that game and they had to play more minutes. I’m not saying five minutes of extra basketball killed Boston in this game, but it didn’t help.

“I'm sure that that may have played a small part into it, but it's not an excuse,” Mazzulla said. “That's part of the game.”

So is finishing off wins when you have the chance. The Celtics have to be better at that. 

- The Celtics have become Sideshow Bob

If there's a rake to step on this season, the Celtics are finding their way toward it. I’ve said this before so I won’t belabor the point, but they haven't found their way past these moments. When there's fatigue, a shorthanded opponent, or another pitfall ahead of the Celtics this season, there's a good chance they’ll fall into it. 

Part of that is a testament to how focused they were last season. Part of it is probably some conservation of energy knowing how much it will take to get back. Part of it is other teams playing some of their best basketball of the season against Boston. 

The Celtics need to control what they can control, and that's their own energy and execution. They had a chance to change this game in the third quarter and they couldn't get out of their own way. They have to take control of situations like that.

Next up: The Celtics head to Dallas to take on the Mavs on Saturday evening