Los Angeles Lakers defense fails to show up vs. Boston Celtics
The Los Angeles Lakers were blown out by the Boston Celtics on Monday night, as they didn’t bring their defense along with them to Beantown.
The Los Angeles Lakers got a boost against the Boston Celtics on Monday night when they got Anthony Davis back in the lineup. Davis has made it a goal of his this season to win Defensive Player of the Year, a goal that is attainable based on his performance thus far this season. Tonight will not be part of that DPOY highlight reel.
The Celtics had their way with the Lakers tonight from the opening tip. Los Angeles started the game on an 8-0 run, but after that, it was all Celtics as the Lakers provided very little resistance. Their defense must have gotten left off the plane in Houston because they certainly didn’t bring it to Boston.
The Celtics won the game 139-107, as the 139 points are the most the Lakers have surrendered this season. 128 was the previous high, scored by the Denver Nuggets back on December 22nd.
Boston shot the lights out of TD Garden. Every player who entered the game wearing green scored at least one basket and nine different players knocked down a 3-pointer. Overall, the Celtics shot 55.9 percent from the field, making 52-of-93 shot attempts. They were efficient from the 3-point line as well, knocking down 16-of-34, good for 47.1 percent.
While those numbers are ugly, the Lakers did themselves no favors by constantly fouling as well. All in all, Los Angeles committed 23 fouls, resulting in 29 free throw attempts for the Celtics. The free-throw line is arguably where the team struggled most, as they made only 19, good for 65.5 percent.
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Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston, scoring 27 points. Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown both returned to the lineup tonight and scored 20 apiece, as the Lakers just had no answer for them. This is actually the first time that a team Walker is a member of has defeated a LeBron James-led team.
Enes Kanter had a double-double off the bench with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Gordon Hayward also broke double-figures with 16 points.
The Lakers were also crushed on the boards, which will usually spell disaster for a team. Los Angeles pulled down only 36 rebounds compared to 48 for the Celtics,14 of which were of the offensive variety.
During an 82-game season, teams will also have off nights. Hopefully, this is just an off night for the purple and gold and not the beginning of a troubling trend.
Los Angeles will have a get right spot when they are back on the court Monday. They will be facing the New York Knicks, who are playing better basketball under Mike Miller but still own the fourth-worst record in the league.
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If the Lakers are going to get things back on track during this road trip, the Knicks present the opportunity to do so. After that, they will have to face the Brooklyn Nets on the second night of a back-to-back before ending the trip with another nationally televised game against the Philadelphia 76ers.