Coming off of a win against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics faced off against the Los Angeles Lakers in the latest chapter of their historic rivalry. This was the first game the Celtics faced the Lakers with Luka Doncic and just like the NBA Finals, Boston took care of business, winning 111-101 over LA.
Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists on 12-28 shooting while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 31 points and 6 rebounds on 13-25 shooting. Although Luka Doncic finished with 34 points, it was clear the Celtics were head and shoulders above the Lakers in this game.
Boston’s defense was the story of the night as they forced 9 steals and had 5 blocks against LA led by Al Horford who was the best defender on Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Their defense was at its peak in the third quarter when they held the Lakers to only 13 points in total. The Jays were able to attack Doncic on the offensive end and it looked really similar to the NBA Finals.
Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
The Lakers started the game on a 7-0 until the Celtics scored their first basket on a Jaylen Brown fadeaway. All five players on LA scored to open the game while it took Boston a little bit to get going after a 2-7 start.
Then the threes started falling for the Celtics midway through the first quarter as an 11-3 run was capped off by a Jaylen Brown steal on Luka Doncic leading to an Al Horford dunk, tied the game and forced the Lakers to call a timeout.
The Celtics defense had Doncic struggling out of the timeout as a block by Payton Pritchard and steal by Al Horford on back to back plays led to easy baskets for Boston. After a chippy end to the quarter between Jordan Goodwin and Jayson Tatum as they jawed back and forth and both traded threes, the game was tied 33-33.
Brown (10 points) and Tatum (13 points) combined for 23 of the Celtics 33 points in the first quarter while Dorian Finney-Smith led the Lakers with 8 points. Boston shot really well in the first quarter going 54% from the field and 66.7% from three, but allowed LA to shoot 56.5% from the field and 50% from three.
Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
Both teams' defensive intensity started to ramp up to begin the second quarter as baskets were hard to come by. LeBron James and Jayson Tatum both made some spectacular plays midway through the second quarter but neither team was able to gain much momentum as the lead went back and forth.
Doncic started to get hot for the Lakers as he scored 7 straight points for the Lakers as Brown was struggling to get any calls --the most egregious being a play where Brown went up for a layup as Doncic threw his face into the play on defense. It was called an offense foul and even though it got overturned, Brown ended receiving a technical foul.
Boston started to find their offense again after the review, with a 10-2 run finished off by an emphatic Jayson Tatum slam at the buzzer, gave the Celtics a 58-54 lead going into halftime.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 22 points on 8-16 shooting while LeBron James led the Lakers with 14 points. Jaylen Brown had 16 points on 7-15 shooting and played some incredible defense on Luka Doncic who finished with 11 points on 3-8 shooting.
The Celtics finished the first half shooting 48% from the field and 41% from three and forced 4 steals on the Lakers as their defense locked in. Al Horford played some great defense in the first half as on almost every possession he was getting switched on to LeBron.
Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
Brown and Tatum came out aggressive to start the third quarter as they attacked Doncic on defense on back to back plays as Boston continued to attack LA’s paint defense. The Celtics offense continued to click on all cylinders as they opened up a 19-2 run in the first 6 minutes of the quarter.
From the 2:16 mark of the second quarter to the 5:09 mark of the third quarter, the Celtics went on a 32-6 run as they opened up a 22-point lead on the Lakers.
The Celtics defense continued to be anchored by Al Horford as he clamped Luka Doncic on almost every possession. Horford’s energy on defense started to spread to the rest of the team as Jayson Tatum made an incredible block on Doncic as well as Payton Pritchard blocking Jordan Goodwin and forcing a charge on back to back plays.
A deep three by Tatum at the end of the quarter made it a 20 point game going into the fourth quarter as the Celtics led the Lakers 87-67. Boston’s defense was suffocating in the third quarter as LA only scored 13 points. The Lakers were held to 5-23 shooting from the field and 1-10 shooting from three while the Celtics forced 6 turnovers.
The Lakers started to chip away at the Celtics to begin the fourth quarter as they opened up a 16-2 run to cut the lead from 20 points to 7. Boston’s offense started to get cold at the worst possible time and turned the ball over which allowed LA to get back in the game.
LA continued to make shots out of a timeout and after a Dalton Knect three and Luke Doncic free throws, the Lakers cut the Celtics lead to 4 with five minuets left. Derrick White hit three free throws and Doncic hit another three in response. Jaylen Brown went down on the other end and splashed a deep three over Doncic to keep the Celtics lead afloat.
LeBron James was ruled out with a groin strain with three minutes to go as the Lakers were attempting a comeback. That is when the Jays started to take over as a Tatum three and Brown layup put the nails in the Lakers’ coffin and sealed a win for the Celtics.
Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
The Celtics next game is Monday March 12th against the Utah Jazz at 7:30 pm.