You knew that the Lakers and their fans would be emotional tonight, and that L.A. would feed off of it, but the Celtics showed little resistance. Call it “tired legs”, second night of a back-to-back, blah blah. Boston just did not play defense tonight. Period. They fall 113-99 in L.A.
As Doc told his troops at halftime, “they’re getting whatever they want..” Couldn’t have said it better myself. L.A. shot 53% from the field, and had 54 points in the paint. Dwight Howard got hot early, and despite keeping it close through some of the 1st half, the wheels completely fell off the C’s bus in the 3rd & 4th. The lone bright spot? Paul Pierce. P-Double put on an absolute clinic. It’s clear that L.A. is one of his favorite places to play, second only to TD Garden. If this was his last game at Staples as a Celtic, he went out with a bang. Truth had 26 points on 9 of 17 shooting, had 5 assists, 4 rebounds and nailed 4 of 7 from downtown. Courtney Lee had another solid game putting in 18 and holding Kobe to 5 of 15 from the field. KG finished with12 pts. Dwight Howard had his best game as a Laker- “Paint Your Face Clown” had 24 points, a lot of which were uncontested dunks and layups. Lakers also got 16 from Kobe and had 6 guys in double-figures.
The Green:
- Jeff Green had 15 points, 7 rebounds & 4 assists in 26 mins. off the bench
- Paul Pierce’s shot chart:
The Gross:
- Celtics gave up 54 points in the paint
- Bass and Bradley were a combined 5 of 13 for 12 points in 64 minutes
- Pick and roll defense was horrible
The Greenlights:
Sorry-no highlights up at this hour, so I’ve substituted a hot pic of Menounos from tonight’s game.
The Grid: (quick stats)
- Lakers took 31 FT’s
- Doc played Chris Wilcox for just 7 minutes & Collins for 5 minutes tonight
- Terrence Williams had 5 points, 2 rebounds & 2 assists in 12 minutes
- Despite the win, Lakers are still 3 games under .500
Celtics now have a day off and head to Phoenix for a Friday night game with the Suns. Be sure to stay with Red’s Army for any trade news leading-up to tomorrow afternoon’s deadline. The guys from CSL will also have a live trade deadline special tomorrow at 5pm! I’m going to pass out now before I fall asleep with my head on the computer again. Zzzzzzzzzz…
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