The L.A. Lakers were without both superstars (Anthony Davis and Lebron James), but seemingly that did not matter, as they stunned the Celtics 114-104 at the TD Garden. Austin Reaves relished his role as the main option without James and Davis, as he poured in 32 points – including seven 3-pointers – to carry the Lakers to a surprise victory. Boston’s big-name players on the other hand really seemed to struggle, especially Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown. However, the most obvious failure for the Celtics was their unusually inconsistent shooting from behind the arc, as they only managed to connect on 33% of their threes compared to 53% of the Lakers attempts.
Boston started off the game fairly well competing with the Lakers, nether the less L.A. still held a lead of three at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers had opened up a 9-point lead, until Sam Hauser hit consecutive 3-point shots to cut the deficit at the end of the period. Hauser was one of few positives on the night, he scored 17 points – 15 of which were from beyond the arc – and finished with a +6 plus-minus for the game.
The second quarter was the period were the Lakers really jumped out to a comfortable lead. The L.A. side hit eight shots from behind the arc in the 2nd quarter alone, as their opponents (the Celtics) struggled massively to find any offensive rhythm. The Celtics bench has come in to question over the majority of the season, but they were the only net positive against a poor Lakers side. Payton Pritchard miraculously finished with a +13 plus-minus in a game that the Celtics lost by 9.
The Celtics clawed their way back into the game ever so slightly in the third quarter, and after a Jayson Tatum 3-point shot the L.A. lead was down to just six. But some clumsy offensive sets and far too many turnovers resulted in the Lakers easily regaining another 10-point advantage.
Despite some battling there would be no route back into the game in the final period for the Celtics. In reality they allowed a team ranked in the bottom half for 3-point shooting efficiency to get hot from the 3-point line and the Lakers never looked back, nailing 19 3-pointers on an impressive 53% from outside. The Lakers eventually went on to claim a comfortable 114-105 win against the best the NBA has to offer.
After the game Head Coach Joe Mazzulla commented on the Celtics loss Via ESPN: “It just happens. Stretches of bad Basketball happen. We can’t just sit here and act like we’re too entitled for it to happen to us. It happens, and now it’s a matter of how we respond to it and how we work through it”. The Celtics will continue their 8-game homestand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, as Boston welcomes back Marcus Smart for the first time since his summer departure.
By Will C
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