Friday, February 3, 2017

02/03: Rivalry Renewed - LAKERS @ Boston Celtics 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion


Lakers, Celtics, enough said. Welcome in to the first half open thread and discussion. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the game.

Q2

LAL 51 BOS 62

Lakers were ice cold and the Celtics were red hot this quarter. Best summary I can come up with after the first half. In terms of three-point shooting, the Celtics have the definite edge. The Lakers tried to fight fire with fire in that category and it's not working out. Well it did work out to start. Nick Young and D'Angelo Russell had the hot start in the first quarter, but in the 2nd quarter? Where were they? D'Lo had that questionable 3-pointer from deep midway through the quarter. Celtics dominated this quarter with their defense and their three-point shooting. And the worse part about that was that Isaiah Thomas didn't play that much until down the stretch. The Lakers are not playing with a lot of energy. Back-to-back road trips are definitely going to do that to a team. There's miscommunication, which lead to a lot of turnovers. Too many questionable shot selections. The only silver lining in this quarter is that Brandon Ingram contributed 9 points off the bench on 3-4 shooting. He's found spurts were he's being aggressive and getting his jump shot going. I'd love to see Ingram rekindle his play in early-mid January. I think that'll be beneficial to his confidence and development. But overall, the Celtics fired on all cylinders this quarter and if Isaiah Thomas gets hot like he has the last few games, the Lakers are in a lot of trouble. They have to regroup and start over from scratch in terms of game plan adjustments. The 2nd half will be up shortly. 

Q1

LAL 30 BOS 29

That's not a way to close out after Terry Rozier knocks down a buzzer beating three for the Celtics. Lakers being down big to start and getting it going down the stretch in road games has been routine this season I guess. Al Horford got off to a quick start and Isaiah Thomas pulling up for a three had all kinds of writings on the wall that this could get ugly. But, D'Lo and Swaggy P got the offense rolling and are part of the reason why the Lakers hold on to a one point lead. I liked the aggressiveness by D'Lo to start. We gotta see more of that as he started to cool down just a little bit down the stretch. They gotta watch out for Marcus Smart. Underrated player on defense and his defensive play lead the Celtics to a couple of fast break points. Gotta clean that up and take better care of the ball.

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