Lakers bounce back in tight 4th quarter win over the Celtics.
After coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season, the Lakers came into Boston to beat the rival Celtics in a late game gritty matchup. The Celtics had an opportunity to beat the Lakers on a last second shot but was missed by Celtics PG Kemba Walker. This gave the Lakers the 96–95 victory over Boston and moved the Lakers record to 15–6.
On tonight’s bounce back win, the Lakers had a total of 5 players who finished in double figures in the scoring column. Lebron James and Anthony Davis combined for 48 points in tonight’s victory.
Anthony Davis was missed in the Lakers previous game as he was out with a calf strain. Anthony Davis gave the Lakers a big performance, having a big presence over the undersized Celtics tonight finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead all Lakers.
Anthony Davis went 11 for 25 (44%) total from the field, 1 for 2 (50%) from the perimeter, and 4 for 7 (57%) from the free throw line. Anthony Davis’ 14 rebounds and constant offensive rebounds for second chance points help the Lakers secure tonight’s win over the rival Boston Celtics.
Lebron James had a solid performance in tonight’s victory, finishing with 21 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds. Lebron James had an off night shooting from deep, going 4–11 (36%) from the 3 arc and 7 for 17 (41%) overall from the field in 37 minutes.
In 20 games this season Lebron James is averaging 25.5 points per game, 7.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists on 41% shooting from 3 and 49% overall from the field.
With tonight’s win over the Celtics, Lebron James passed Lakers great Derrick Fisher on the All-Time Wins list in the NBA for 8th all-time.
The Lakers had a great surge and energy come from the bench tonight as they finished with 35 total bench points. Two of those players finished in double figures.
Montrezl Harrell had a huge must needed bounce-back performance after only scoring 8 points in the previous two games. Montrezl Harrell has great energy off the bench tonight finishing with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.
A player who has not had the needed praise this season is Lakers PG Alex Caruso. Caruso won’t splash on the box score, but he has done everything needed for this Lakers team to help with their success this season. Caruso finished tonight with 2 points, 3 rebounds, and a plus/minus of 14 which was a game high.
The Lakers were able to hold the Celtics to shoot under 30% from the 3 point line tonight. The one area the Lakers struggled in tonight was trying to contain the dynamic duo of Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum finished with a combined 58 points tonight as Brown had 28 points and Jayson Tatum finished with a game high 30 points.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spoke on the Lakers 4th quarter defense tonight:
“We had a great defensive energy, we’re really flying around on the defensive end. This game was won the whole fourth quarter with our defense.”
With Tonight’s win over the Boston Celtics, the Lakers move to 15–6 record overall and still remain in 3rd place in the Western Conference behind the red hot Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.
The Lakers now will travel to Atlanta to face former Lakers Rajon Rondo and the Hawks on Monday night. This will be the Lakers 7th straight game on the road. The Atlanta Hawks are 10–9 and are looking to continue their winning streak after coming off a huge win over the Washington Wizards.