Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from blowout loss to the Boston Celtics

The Los Angeles Lakers played the second game of their Grammys trip against the Boston Celtics. After playing lights out against the Houston Rockets, they played like their lights were out against the Celtics. 

When the Los Angeles Lakers got word that Anthony Davis would be returning to the lineup, business should have really picked up for the fans. After the team put together one of the best performances of the season Saturday night against the Houston Rockets. Monday night should be a breeze right?

It’s not like the Boston Celtics are playing well. They’ve lost 6 of their last 8 games and are slumping. It’s starting to look better and better. Finally, LeBron James owns every team that Kemba Walker plays on. Throughout their careers, LeBron’s teams own a 28-0 record over Kemba’s. Then the guarantee heard around the NBA world was screamed out by Charles Barkley.

For a few minutes, it looked like Barkley’s famous “guarantees” were going to look bad once again. Especially when LeBron James found JaVale McGee for an alley oop dunk 10 seconds into the game. Los Angeles started the game on an 8-0 run, but the Celtics found themselves ahead after the first quarter 33-30. The post game could stop here. That’s when the Lakers stopped playing.

While the Lakers got back AD, Boston got back Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown. Boston’s returning stars played outstanding. AD had, let’s just say one of those nights.

While the stage was set for an epic Martin Luther King Jr. Day showcase on TNT between NBA’s iconic franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, was more of a reminder of the Memorial Day Massacre back in the 1985 NBA Finals.

The Boston Celtics had their own “Tea Party” while running the Lakers out of TD Garden to New York in a 139-107 blowout. No doubt about it, this was a through whipping that Frank Vogel had no problems discussing after the game. There were a lot of firsts in this game that need to be addressed.

• The Los Angeles Lakers allowed an opponent to score more than 130 points for the first time. Their previous season-high for opponent points allowed was 128 points against the Denver Nuggets. Not so fun fact: they got blown out in that game too.
• It was also the first time LeBron James had ever lost to Kemba Walker. Prior to Monday night’s game, Walker was 0-28 against James. But he is 1-0 in a Boston uniform.
• This is the first game that the Los Angeles Lakers basically mailed it in.  In all of the other games, the Lakers could hang their hat on effort. As hard as the players competed in Houston, they let go of the rope in Boston.
• The Lakers big men actually looked small on the boards. The Celtics out-rebounded the Lakers 48-36. The total is the lowest for the Lakers this season.
• The 69 first-half points were the most scored against LA this season.

While it would be easy to say that the Boston Celtics put together a game plan to stifle the Lakers big men that Frank Vogel didn’t plan for. Lake Show Life Lessons aren’t put together that way. We tell the truth.

Bottom line, the Boston Celtics punched the Lakers in the mouth and the team never responded. This is now the 3rd time the Lakers took a whipping in a hyped national TV game. They lost this one and two others to the Los Angeles Clippers.

These types of performances have to be looked at. It seems that the opponents look at these types of games as a chance to make a point while the Lakers run through the motions. In a game with as much as hype the NBA had for this one makes it embarrassing.

Need an illustration of who wanted it more? Okay.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1219441782276026368

Sure the Lakers will win the next game against the New York Knicks on Wednesday. It’s the Knicks, a bigger disaster than this game will ever portray. Then there’s Brooklyn. Who knows if Kyrie Irving will “feel” like playing.

Well this Lake Show Life Lessons article will be different.