Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Boston Celtics in a back-to-back road trip. The Lakers rallied from 21 down to start this game against their bitter rivals. But, the Lakers couldn't maintain their run as they ultimately fell to the Celtics 96-107 as Boston keeps the streak rolling with their 10th straight win.
This will be a distorted full recap since I missed all of the first quarter and a portion of the second quarter. The Lakers did well enough to make this is a game down the stretch, cutting it to an eight point deficit. Then in the 3rd quarter, they kept the train rolling early on. But down the stretch in 3rd, they went absolutely ice cold. I don't know if the Lakers ever took a lead in this game. I'm sure they did early on before the Celtics went on an offensive clinic. But at times, they had a chance to take the lead. They just couldn't buy a bucket and those missed shots eventually came back to bite them after they did a better job on the defensive end. And they also turned the ball over, which has shot the Lakers in the foot for years.
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Brandon Ingram, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 7-11 shooting. It's a recurring theme that Ingram is at his best when he's taking the ball to the rim. I saw spurts of his performance during the 2nd quarter and in the 2nd half in its entirety. When B.I. attacks, that's when the Lakers are at their best and he was a key cog in why the Lakers were able to come back after a very slow start in the game.
Julius Randle, 16 points, 12 rebounds, 5-9 shooting. If I'm correct, this has to be Randle's first double-double since accepting his role off the bench. He was the only player in plus figures for this team. Randle was also a key cog in making this loss more respectable. He stuck to his strength, which is playing bully ball inside the paint. He drew a couple of contact on those plays to get to the line for the and 1. He's been up and down on the free throw stripe, but he hit all of his free throws tonight.
Team defense 2nd-4th quarter. I'm sure the Lakers were having a tough time containing Kyrie Irving and the Celtics. Boston kept attacking the basket and played some really unselfish basketball to start the game. I'd say mid 2nd quarter-the entire 4th quarter, the Lakers made the adjustments and started to put more pressure on the ball against the Celtics. They were able to come up with a couple of turnovers and it helped ignited the Lakers to get back to basics in pushing towards the basket.
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Turnovers. It's not rocket science. When the Lakers commit more turnovers than the other team, they wound up losing the game. Most of the turnovers the Lakers had tonight, they were careless. This in terms of ball movement and not being aware that the Celtics were gonna provide 100% on defense. They weren't sharp in moving the ball with a couple of lazy passes. They were too nonchalant with the basketball and the Celtics took advantage of that with sneaky steals.
Rebounding. The Celtics had the close edge in terms of offensive rebounding against the Lakers 16-12. The Lakers completely forgot how to box out in some of those rebounds. Particularly in the 4th quarter, the Lakers executed a good defensive possession. But, somehow they were for naught because the Celtics were able to sneak in for the offensive rebound, Marcus Smart for example. For instance, there were about 3-4 yellow jerseys in the paint ready for the rebound, but you have one green jersey sneaking in and getting the rebound. Nobody boxed out. They were standing there waiting for the ball to come to them.
Missed shots in the 3rd-4th quarter. These hurt big time. When the Lakers played good defense and were able to secure rebounds, they couldn't hit a shot to either tie the game or take the lead. They were down as many as 2-3 points and it would've been a different story if they hit those shots. Instead, the shots couldn't fall in and it presented all kinds of missed opportunities and wasted possessions for the Lakers when they made the run in the 2nd quarter and early in the 3rd quarter.
Kyle Kuzma, 10 points, 4-10 shooting, 5 fouls. We found out that Kuz is not immune to a rookie off game. Tonight was one of those nights where he had an off game. 40% shooting, 10 points, 6 rebounds is still not too bad, but it shows struggle and he did show that he can make mental errors tonight.
MVP
Julius Randle, 16 points, 12 rebounds
As mentioned, Julius is the only Laker in plus figures this game and this was his first double-double coming off the bench. Combined with bully ball and 100% free throw shooting, Randle rekindled the reputation as the "double-double" machine.
Conclusion
This is very similar to last season. The Lakers would compete in road games, but they just couldn't figure a way to finish strong or close out. Let alone, they can't do a shootout against the better teams. Again, they're a young team and this is something where they ask themselves "how can they get over this hump?" Hats off to the Celtics. They found a way to win despite being short handed and their train keeps rolling with 10 straight wins. It's gonna be tough in the rematch this season when they have all players healthy (minus Gordon Hayward of course). Nonetheless, the Lakers gotta hit the next game and they're flying to D.C. for a rematch against the Wizards. No question, John Wall and company are gonna be looking for some redemption against Lonzo Ball and this Laker squad. Next nationally televised game, they play the 76ers next Wednesday night. Ben Simmons, Zo, and Kuz are all front runners for Rookie of the Year. More specifically, it's gonna be a passing war between Simmons and Ball. Should be fun to watch. I'll see you guys for that game. Meanwhile, keep out on the Quick Fact Check and Commentary posts between this game and next Wednesday's game. I'll see you guys later.
