CELTICS -at- LAKERS - 4/15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:31 pm    Post subject: CELTICS -at- LAKERS - 4/15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

A Little Ugly... And it might get uglier before it gets better this next week.

Another one of those games where the Lakers quickly dug themselves into a deep hole as the team was down 14-2 to start this one after a few minutes. They shot just 3-16 from three in the first half and trailed 61-48.

Defensively, the Lakers were just awful tonight. The Celtics hit just about everything they took and for good reason, they were comfortable and in open space.

When the Lakers had their offense clicking during the third, their inability to get stops just had them trading baskets. That’s not their M.O. and not the way they’ve been able to scratch out wins lately.

“We were late and ineffective,” Vogel said of his defense in the second half, particularly on the doubles they wanted to send at Brown who scored 40 on 17-20 shooting.

Once the Lakers lost the first couple of minutes in the fourth and fell back by 20+, this one was over. Sort of.

The Lakers deep bench trimmed that lead down on a 24-2 run to cut it to 5. That forced the Celtics to bring back all their starters against our upstart kids. It was a spirited effort by that deep bench, but too big a hill to climb. The Lakers dropped the game, 121-113.

Good news, Anthony Davis has been cleared for practice.


Schröder -- -- He was a game time decision with a foot injury. He was MIA in the first quarter, taking just one shot. THT really took over the ball and point of attack. Only 2 points on 1-5 shooting in the first half and a -18. In the third quarter, he and Gasol were able to work the two-man game. A lot of open looks from three for Gasol that he hit. When the Celtics switched, Schröder was able to take advantage for some points himself. He definitely didn’t quite look himself. He probably should have just taken the night off, like the rest of the Laker D. But good job trying to push through. He also played a low-turnover game, as well, which is a trend we want to see. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 8 assists and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -19.

Kuzma -- -- Two airballs tonight. They mention the calf injury not helping, but you can see even his footwork isn’t good going into some of these shots. Just a bit wild on everything he took, and we have another one of those inefficient games. Celtics starters scored 95 points to the Lakers 44. Our starters couldn’t defend. “I don’t think we followed certain game plans,” Kuz said of the team’s D. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-14 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -20.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He picked up two fouls in 1:30 to start the game and sat for THT. He ended up scoreless in the first half. Just not a good game on either end. He even got turned around in circles on a play in the fourth. Some steals in this one, but really no substance in the contribution from him. Haven’t seen one this poor in a while. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -3.

Gasol -- -- Great offensive game. With AD2 still dealing with the injury, Marc got the start. AD1 is cleared for full practice, so he’s very close. Marc led the starters with 7 first half points, showing the general lack of scoring punch from the starters. He hit a three, a turnaround and jumper. He hit the floor early in the third for a loose ball and hurt his finger, dislocated pinky and he popped it back in. Small fracture on his left hand. He said he doesn’t use it that much, so he’s probably available. That didn’t stop him from hitting a series of threes in that third quarter. He was autimatic, scoring 11 in the third. That’s the best his shot looked all season. It was just automatic. Unfortunately our D across the board couldn’t get any stops during this stretch. No real anchoring or disruption from him on that end of the floor. I will say since we’ve gotten Drummond, Gasol has looked a lot better offensively. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-10 shooting (4-6 from three) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -13.

Matthews -- -- A -21 in 14 first half minutes as he shot just 1-5. We could have used some better wing defenders tonight. We missed our length around him defensively. The Bucks last year really did a good job with that to help him and be disruptive defensively. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-7 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -17.

Harrell -- -- He had 10 points on 4-8 shooting the first half. He should have had more, but missed several chippies. Just 2 points in the second half. No umph to his game tonight. He had some bully ball moments, but we needed some intensity and punching back against the Celtics and didn’t have that. Just seemed like everyone was happy to be back in L.A. I liked the two-man action with him and AC. They teamed up a couple of times for scores for Trezz. Little things like that are at least something you can carry forward from this game. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-11 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal,1 block and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -14.

Caruso -- -- He’s looking a little more aggressive offensively of late. His first play when he came in was to go behind his back to lose a defender then hit a pull-up from midrange. A couple nice assists to Trezz on the two-man action. AC seems to be seeing the floor a little better and making some tougher passes and reads. Not always clean, he had a skip pass that was picked, but I like that he’s been making those passes lately. Not too many minutes tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -10.

Horton-Tucker -- -- One of the more enjoyable parts of this game was watching THT’s minutes. Not always clean, not always the right decision, but a lot fewer of those mistakes. He’s looking more and more comfortable finding that balance with aggression to score and aggression to setup others. Strong first quarter to help the team get their scoring going as he had 10 points on 4-7 shooting. He scored a layup on the horns strong handoff attacking to his right. He swished a baseline floater, sank a step-back jumper. He attacked, bullied his way to layup as his man went down and he’d get to the line to lead the Lakers with 12 points at the half in 13 minutes. So a good chunk of his offense was during the heat of the battle. The end of the night, he had 19-7-7 with 3 steals. Those are kind of ridiculous numbers for someone his age and draft position. Bonus points for doing it against the Celtics. Glad he’s clocking the minutes and going through all the growing pains involved with that. He’s building that game up, minute by minute. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-15 shooting (0-3 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnover and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -4.

McLemore -- -- You’re hoping to see him show up offensively again during the heat of the battle vs. late in the match. Again, I think his shot quality won’t be great until we have our big guns back. He’d hit a 17-footer off a screen early, but miss his other shots in the first half. He only got really going when the game was out of hand. Perhaps, the spacing and looks were better. Hopefully, that will be what he sees later when LeBron returns. When he got going in that fourth, though, he got going. He forced a timeout hitting a three when he cut the lead to 13 with 3 minutes to go and was key to that Lakers run. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-12 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +11.

McKinnie -- -- He drilled a wing three on his first attempt. Seems like he hit that first attempt quite often. He drained a couple more threes in garbage time. Again, he played that small ball PF role. His best games have been in that role and has built up a little bit of trust from Vogel. Good effort and impact in that fourth. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a +11.

Cacok -- -- In for garbage time with about 7 minutes left, he ended up a +19 in 7 minutes. He had a dunk on a jump pass from McLemore and a late FT. He also ran over Wagner. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a +19.

Antetokounmpo -- -- Great job diving for a loose ball to get a stop and fouled with 1:50 left. He was able to cut the lead to 7 with a FT. Spirited effort from him out there, meeting the energy of the moment with the other deep bench guys on their comeback attempt. He also swatted a shot. That was one of just two blocks we had on the night. He and Cacok missed three FTs that could have made things a little more interesting. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 fouls in 7 minutes. He was a +7.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: There was a stretch in the third where the Lakers were sinking threes and scoring points with ease, but they couldn’t get stops. The offense was there, but the D had no answers, especially for Brown. To start the fourth, they were buried for good giving up an 8-0 run to go down 20.

Key Substitution: Let’s just go with the bench in the first half and garbage time. They outscored the Celtics bench 33-7 in the first half. Unfortunately, our starters weren’t doing anything in that half. The deep bench locked down that Celtic bench in those final 7 minutes and forced all the Boston starters back on the floor as a result. The problem was really when Brown was in the game. Brown’s 17-20 shooting night killed them. He was a +36. In the 16 minutes he wasn’t on the floor, the Lakers were a +28.

Key Stats: Let’s go with the 1,915 in attendance. Good to have fans back to watch the defending champs play.
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Laker4lifer4real
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:44 pm    Post subject:

THT career high in points, almost had a memorable comeback. He has potential to be a player of Jaylen Brown’s level in 4-5 years.
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Shaber
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:10 pm    Post subject:

So, Marc pops back his finger and plays with a fractured bone while Drummond is out because someone stepped on his toe?

Hmmm.. Interesting.
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:17 pm    Post subject:

Shaber wrote:
So, Marc pops back his finger and plays with a fractured bone while Drummond is out because someone stepped on his toe?

Hmmm.. Interesting.


Well his toenail got entirely ripped out when that person stepped on his toe (initially) and he couldn’t wear shoes for several days after so I’d imagine it kinda hurts when it gets scrunched on again. As someone said in the game thread we need to get him some steel toed athletic shoes lol

Anyway the comeback made me happy on a variety of levels. It’s tough watching these games but we just gotta hang in until the cavalry arrives.

Thanks DB
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DrDent
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:53 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Did not expect the W...honestly, dont expect ones vs the Jazz either (will take the Jazz having an off shooting night PLUS good defense)

The one thing that did bother me was...come on, can we just get a break? Team holds down Tatum but then Brown has the game of his life, going 17-20. Had he just had NORMAL game I think the lakers may have pulled it out. Lakers lost a ton of momentum when down 7 and he came back in and started having buckets.

Other than that, no way this team can win giving 30+ point quarters, every quarter, like they did tonight.
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:45 am    Post subject:

When Wes/KCP combine for 5 points on 2-14 shooting, that's why we got off to such a slow offensive start. They had clean looks.
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danzag
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:11 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB.

The Celtics simply played better basketball on both ends of the floor.
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Halflife
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:26 am    Post subject:

Shaber wrote:
So, Marc pops back his finger and plays with a fractured bone while Drummond is out because someone stepped on his toe?

Hmmm.. Interesting.

Feet and back are different animals
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 7:17 am    Post subject:

danzag wrote:
Thanks, DB.

The Celtics simply played better basketball on both ends of the floor.


Their forward duo of Brown/Tatum just devastated us. No answer whatsoever.
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LakerDYnasty72
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:55 pm    Post subject:

THT is growing steadily, as he should. I definitely give any of our players many more props when they play well against tough, defensive-minded teams like the celts. THT, at 20, playing this well against such opponents, reflects his tough mindedness, and bodes real well for his future.

First game in a long time I've seen Caruso with a negative +-.

Andre Drummond not playing with his toe condition is understandable. The force with which a 280 plus pound body is repeatedly hitting a super-sensitive area of his foot like an exposed, even covered, toenail, has to be tricky until the toe heals adequately enough to withstand the pounding.

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:05 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Get well soon AD (and BRON)!
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