The Boston Celtics swept the season sequence in opposition to the Los Angeles Lakers after the 125-121 time beyond regulation win. Jayson Tatum was fairly not good for all however about eight minutes, however as a testomony to the extent he’s on, he nonetheless completed with 30 factors and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Brown led all scorers for Boston regardless of foul hassle, ending with 37 factors and 9 rebounds. For the Lakers, LeBron James. That’s all I’ve to say (he completed with 41 factors, 9 rebounds and eight assists).
The primary half was an train in frustration for the offense. Jayson Tatum had a sluggish begin, going 2-9 from the sector, and the offense principally devolved to unimaginative and uncreative “my flip, your flip” possessions. Whereas the Celtics held an enormous freethrow disparity, the Lakers re-took the sting by profiting from second-chance factors.
Early within the second, the Tatum + bench unit bought off to a fast begin (thanks, Russell Westbrook), however that modified as quickly as Westbrook hit the bench. Boston bought out-worked to a variety of 50-50 balls, and the turnovers actually harm a variety of their efforts. Luckily for Boston, this Lakers crew isn’t elite, so the margin for error is just a little bigger than in opposition to precise playoff groups. Boston by no means absolutely fell out of the image whilst photographs had been barely falling within the second quarter.
Grant Williams (woof) has struggled at occasions this week, and tonight was no exception. Whereas he did begin the sport, Malcolm Brogdon (26 factors, 6 rebounds and 4 assists) began in his place initially of the third. This was a dangerous transfer on condition that Anthony Davis (16 factors, 10 rebounds) began the third quarter (after coming off the bench within the first half), however the further playmaking paid off. The transfer additionally allowed for extra defensive versatility from Derrick White (14 factors), who was in a position to provide extra assist protection as a substitute of point-of-attack protection.
Pretty much as good as that lineup seemed to begin the quarter, L.A. caught hearth from behind the road for a fast 11-0 run, undoing the entire good popping out of halftime. Whereas the Lakers dictated the tempo for lots of the third quarter, back-to-back 3-pointers woke Jayson Tatum up out of his slumber. Additional alongside within the quarter, Boston’s protection pressured just a few turnovers, pushing the Celtics to a 9-0 run of their very own, retaking management of the sport. All of Tatum’s 15 factors within the quarter (after simply scoring 8 within the first half) got here after the six-minute mark of the third.
Tatum’s spark pale a bit because the fourth progressed, nevertheless it was principally the Boston protection that the Lakers took benefit, resulting in issue sustaining the end-of-the-third run. Joe Mazzulla shortened the rotation to take away Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser after dangerous first-half showings, however Jaylen Brown’s foul hassle led to some points in addition to a less-than-stellar Grant Williams outing.
Brogdon got here up enormous within the fourth, including a ton of poise to Boston’s offense whereas hitting well timed buckets – none extra well timed than the shot to offer the Celtics the lead with just a little over three minutes left within the recreation. Brogdon confirmed up on the defensive finish as properly, stripping Anthony Davis cleanly beneath the rim to avoid wasting Boston from some Lakers second-chance factors. All of us noticed it instantly, and after the Celtics challenged the play, the refs noticed it as properly.
Some expensive psychological errors led to Patrick Beverley (15 factors) incomes a profession spotlight with an enormous putback dunk with 18.4 seconds left. JB missed a wide-open 3-pointer the following possession, however a missed freethrow from that very same Patrick Beverley led to a wild sequence that earned Jaylen Brown an and-1 alternative with 4.1 seconds left (he made this one, fortunately).
Some frequent referee malpractice got here up in Boston’s favor as LeBron was fouled missed a layup, sending the sport to OT.
After a technical freethrow, Jaylen Brown went nuts to begin the additional body, giving Boston an enormous buffer. He scored 11 factors simply in OT. For a lot of the interval, the Celtics seemed in management, however a flagrant foul had the Lakers trailing by simply three factors with simply over a minute left (Joe Mazzulla don’t suppose you’ll be able to conceal sneaking Luke Kornet onto the ground there in OT. There’s movie of what you probably did!). Brogdon sealed the deal on the finish with some freethrows, and that was sufficient to place Boston again into the win column.
The Celtics will take their 2.5-game lead over the remainder of the Jap Convention into Wednesday evening’s recreation in opposition to the Brooklyn Nets at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Hopefully, they’ll have Marcus Good and Robert Williams again within the lineup after they do.
