Rapid Recap is designed for the busiest of Celtics fans. Whether you can’t stay awake to read 10 paragraphs or your hangover is just too much, Rapid Recap tells the timeline of the game in only a minute or two.
It’s kinda hard to write a recap when your blood pressure is 180/140, but here goes…
That game is the reason I love basketball. Two titans battling to the death. Superstars making huge plays. And NBA officials making questionable calls late.
Buoyed by a relentless barrage of terrible officiating, the Lakers overcame Jayson Tatum’s 41-point performance and beat the Celtics, 114-112. I’ll be honest, I expected the Lakers to win going away. Without Kemba and the fuel of a 30+ point loss in Boston earlier this year, I figured the Lakers would roll. Nope. Not against this Celtics team. Not when Tatum (41 points, 12-20 FG, 13-15 FTs) puts on a show for a national audience.
Bad officiating aside (and that’s a MASSIVE caveat), the Celtics made a couple of critical errors late (inability to corral a missed FT, Tatum/Brown turnover) that cost them.
The bench (11 points) was woefully bad, especially Brad Wanamaker (0-4 FG, 3 TO, -11). With Kemba Walker nursing a sore knee, it’s imperative for Gordon Hayward (10 points, 0-5 3FG) to deliver 20+ points. While he delivered a well-round game (9 assists, 8 rebounds), his scoring was MIA. Not gonna cut it.
The next level of development for JT is adjusting to double-teams. He’ll figure it out.
PS: I sure hope the All-Star game was worth it for Kemba because we sure could have used him today.
Bill Russell wearing purple and gold in honor of Kobe Bryant 🍀 pic.twitter.com/PiI2GloYn0
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 23, 2020
This is embarrassingly bad officiating https://t.co/q9BhCUZ4el
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) February 23, 2020
Tatum…buries it right in Davis's face! pic.twitter.com/pxZ4GzEXdD
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) February 23, 2020
Tatum with an EXPLOSION on the fastbreak pic.twitter.com/LF0EHPOwL0
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) February 23, 2020
Jayson Tatum'S scoring breakdown by quarter
1Q: 1 point
2Q: 18 points
3Q: 18 points
4Q: ?— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) February 23, 2020
Is there anyone watching our bench suck thinking, “I’m so glad Danny held onto all those picks at the deadline”?
— Chuck M. (@McK_Chuck) February 23, 2020
No. pic.twitter.com/WDFDoFARoV
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) February 23, 2020
The referees ruined the final minute of what was a spectacular game. Swallow your whistle, nobody wants to watch you.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) February 23, 2020
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