LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 1-17-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:43 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 1-17-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Not Against Boston… They needed this one. They may be slumping, but not in Boston. Never in Boston.

Prior to the season, no one would have foreseen a Laker lineup starting the fourth quarter of Sacre, Kelly, Harris, Meeks and Marshall. Step back and look at that for a moment. That’s where this team is at with all the injuries and Nick Young’s suspension. It doesn’t matter the names on the jersey, however, a Laker win over the Celtics is a battle of pride for the franchise.

Ryan Kelly picked the perfect game to step into his own. He took it to the Celtics in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his career-high 20 points, including two clutch FTs with 9 seconds left. Kendall Marshall added 19 points and 14 assists, hitting a huge corner three in front of the Celtics to give the Lakers a 1-point lead in the final minute. The Lakers held on and snapped their losing streak with a satisfying 107-104 win over Boston.

The two guys who took the most heat for not standing up for Nick Young last game (Marshall’s post game comments adding gasoline to the fire)…and they came up huge for their team tonight.

“We made a mistake with not helping Nick, no doubt about it,” D’Antoni said. “But at the same time it’s not a mistake because they didn’t care. It’s just it happened and they didn’t react quite right. Tonight they reacted, they understood, they learned their lesson.”

After a low point in the season, a team meeting later and a rally against the Celtics, the Lakers can enjoy the moment. “It always feels good to get a win here,” Pau said.

They’ll need to hold on to that sense of urgency and desperation if they are going to hold up on this road trip.


Gasol -- -- He had another strong first half with 16 points, 8 boards and 4 assists. He didn’t fade in this one. The Lakers ran a lot of nice inside-out sequences with Pau in the post. That helped the offense flow and improved the quality of three’s the team took. Defensively, the Lakers struggled to control their glass, as usual, but they were able to dig in down the stretch. Pau came up with a very nice challenge on a key stop. Some improvement defensively tonight. Hard to be worse defensively than they have been. “We just got to stiffen up,” D’Antoni said of the D. “A lot of times we don’t do it, and finally toward the end we got better.” The Stats: He scored 24 points on 9-15 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 13 boards, 6 assists, no turnovers and no fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He hit Hill in the paint for the first score. He sank a jumper from the top of the key next time down. He missed an elbow jumper. He drew FTs on a 15-footer, he made both. He missed a wing jumper. He fumbled a defensive board right out of bounds. He hit Meeks cutting weak to strong for a score. Out quickly in transition and he scored a hoop ahead of the D. He grabbed a high pass that was a little behind him and scored the layup. He was fouled on a loose ball for FTs, he made one. He was blocked on a layup leaking out. He complained about a goaltend on that, the Celtics coughed it up and he dunked on the cherry picking play. He spun baseline and drew FTs in the post, he made one. He sank an elbow jumper on the catch. He sank a 12-footer in the middle of the lane. He scored 16 points to go with 8 boards and 4 assists at the half. Second Half: He scored an easy one when Marshall hit him with a bounce pass in the paint. He missed an 18-footer. He posted up and drew FTs on the turnaround. He posted up and got a long turnaround to crawl over the front of the rim. He attacked against the shotclock and missed the bank. He squeezed through a double team, kept the ball up high and hit the jumphook. He missed a long sideline jumper off a play that took too long to develop out of a timeout. Good challenge on a floater to help get a stop with 26 seconds left.

Hill -- -- D’Antoni benched both Hill and Kaman in the second half, in favor of Kelly and Sacre for a stretch. Hill scored the first hoop of the game for the Lakers, but did little after that. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Kelly starting in the next game at PF. D’Antoni’s been pushing his minutes and started him in the second half of this one. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He came off a screen in the paint, took the pass and hit the short one to start the game. He bricked a FT jumper off the two-man game. He missed a jumphook on iso. He blocked Rondo’s drive and it led to a Meeks And-1 the other way. He attacked before putting the ball on the floor, travel. He missed a short jumphook at the front of the rim. Second Half: He didn’t play in the second half.

Meeks -- -- Meeks led the team with a +19 in 42 minutes. He hit a big three as part of the Lakers come back. But he nearly cost them. No clock awareness and we got a shotclock violation with 34 seconds left up by 1. That was a big mental error by the team, and him especially in that sequence. We’ve put some players in tough positions defensively the last few games. Tonight, it was Meeks against Wallace for a stretch. Can’t expect Meeks to hold up against that in the post, especially when we’ve got no ball pressure on passers and help D in the post. That was painful while it lasted. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-13 shooting (2-4 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a +19. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a forced wing jumper in early offense. He attacked in transition and scored around Green. He cut off the three line, going weak to strong and Pau found him for the layup. He was picked not protecting his dribble. Not close on a sideline three. He pushed out the break and scored an And-1, he made the FT. He made a tech FT. He missed a heave at the buzzer. He had 8 points on 3-6 shooting. Second Half: He attacked baseline and threw it away to start the half. He took a pass over the D from Pau, missed at the rim, got it back and missed again (but Kelly tipped it in). He attacked, picked up the dribble, got the whistle and threw in the 12-foot And-1, he missed the FT. He sank a wing three on a kickout. Quick attack off the catch and he drew FTs on the baseline, he made one. He attacked but was blocked from behind by Wallace. He left a man fly by and swished a wing three.

Johnson -- -- After the game, he felt he hit that first jumpball he and Wallace had out of bounds. Both he and Wallace touched, he seemed to get more of it, but the refs reviewed and couldn’t overturn it, so they jumped again. He won the second one and that led to Kelly’s two FTs. That would force the Celtics to need to make a three versus a two at the other end. Big play and good job winning that after getting tied up on the sideline. Offensively, he sank three from behind the arc tonight, including a huge one after he had coughed up an unforced error late in the fourth. Defensively, loved his rebounding. We need more of that from him. He can be a double-double type of player with his athleticism. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-7 shooting (3-5 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He filled a lane, took the pass and contact for FTs, he made one. He swiped a pass on one end, then threw it away on the other. He missed a sideline three. Quick attack off the three line but he choked the finish. He took an outlet and was fouled for FTs, he made one. Second Half: He swatted his man and controlled the miss. He sank a three on a kickout from Pau. He swished a sideline three on a kickout. He took his eyes off a pass and fumbled it out of bounds, down 3 with 5 minutes left that’s a painful unforced error. He drained a wing three working behind the screen. He was tied up on the sideline and had to jumpball against Wallace twice, he won it and Kelly sank a couple of big FTs with 9 seconds left.

Marshall -- -- “They looked like a team again tonight,” Worthy said afterward. Laker fans gave Marshall the business after his poor, “He saw what he wanted to see” comments in the last one. He apologized to Nick and promised he would be there for his guys. You even saw him give Wallace a little shove from behind as he helped Meeks up off the floor tonight. He’s young and has bounced from three teams and a D-League team in about a year. People might have let him off if he didn’t add that bit about Nick seeing things. That’s not leadership. Just because you run in to help your guys doesn’t mean you do something stupid to get thrown out. Just be there for your guys, leadership demands that. Hopefully, Kendall learned from this. Speaking of leadership, Kobe was in Kendall’s ear with a minute left, he wanted this one. Good to see some coach Kobe out there. Offensively, tonight, Kendall did a solid job setting up teammates. He was aggressive getting to the rim early on (especially when the D tried to pressure him), but was also spot on with his threes, including the huge corner three in front of the Boston bench to take the lead in the final minute. Big shot in crunch time. Efficient with his shooting, but he was a little sloppy with the passes. Defensively, he needs to communicate better. There were some sequences where we weren’t on the same page at all. He’s going to have to take more effort, pride and focus on that end of the floor as he grows his game. Good job stepping up against the Laker rival after last game’s low point of the season. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-11 shooting (4-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 14 assists, 1 steal, 7 turnovers and 1 foul in 44 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a pull-up jumper from 17 feet out. He attacked the pressure D and scored a layup. He blew past Rondo’s pressure and scored a layup. He missed a 16-footer. He hit Pau with a high pass over the D for a score. Bad read throwing it out of bounds as Harris cut and was denied a lane by the D. He missed a runner off the glass, way short. He threw a pass away on the two-man game and gave up a layup. He sank a wing three on a post kickout. He fronted Rondo in the post and gave up an easy layup, poor decision. He attacked and was stripped. He swiped a pass in transition and it led to a Pau dunk. He probed, had his man on his hip and attacked the rim for an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He hit Pau in the middle of the lane for the jumper. He had 10 points and 7 assists at the half. Second Half: He drained a wing three on an inside-out sequence with Pau. He probed from the corner and hit Pau with a bounce pass for a score. Sloppy pass in transition and a teammate deflected it, turnover. He traveled trying to attack off the three line. He sank a wing three on some great Laker ball movement. He attacked and kicked to Meeks for three. His cross-court pass was picked off. He found Meeks for a three. He missed a wing three. No communication on D and he left a man alone under the hoop with 3 minutes left. He spotted up in the corner, kept his heels off the sideline and swished the corner three to take a 1-point lead with 1:09 left.

Harris -- -- “He’s undefeated so far,” D’Antoni said. Fresh from the D-League into the middle of a Lakers vs. Celtics game, we threw him into the action. With Young’s suspension and all the injuries, the Lakers needed warm bodies. He showed some flashes of his athleticism. His confidence might have been a little off by not knowing the offense, but he picked some spots to make a difference. He attacked through tight spaces, got out in transition and showed the range from three. D’Antoni should be a good coach for him to try to carry his D-League confidence over to the NBA. He won’t see as many minutes with Nick back, however, but hopefully after some practice time we see some run for him. Watching the new guys is going to be one of the highlights amid what’s sure to be plenty more L’s despite this nice win tonight. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He attacked against the shotclock and was blocked, forced to put it up. He missed a pull-up elbow jumper, a little forced. He attacked in transition, slowed up, changed directions and scored around the D. He drew FTs trying to create against the shotclock, he made both FTs. He missed a wing three on a kickout. Second Half: He tracked down a long rebound, he then missed a long wing three. He swished a three straight away. He attacked the paint aggressively, took contact and missed on the layup attempt. He iso’d against a big, attacked and threw it away.

Kaman -- -- He had 3 turnovers in just 6 minutes. Can’t blame D’Antoni for not wanting to see any more of that. He sat Kaman and went with Sacre at backup C in the second half. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 1 board, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He worked the post with a spin and up-and-under for an easy score. He was stripped putting the ball down by a guard. He threw an inbounds pass away for a layup and his second turnover in about 20 seconds. He probed the lane and missed the short hook. He sank a FT jumper after a pump. He lost an offensive board out of bounds. Second Half: He didn’t play in the second half.

Sacre -- -- Some nice D against Bass as the Celtics tried to attack through him in the second half. Sacre was all over that. He was also all over the floor after getting rejected badly at the front of the rim on a dunk attempt. Glad the Lakers won because we can forget about that. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-2 from FTs) to go with 2 offensive boards and no fouls in 6 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He got rejected on a throwdown attempt that sent him to the floor. Next time, he pump-faked and hit the short one with his left. A couple great post D stops on iso against Bass. He drew FTs on a putback attempt, he made one.

Kelly -- -- “It’s the best game of his career, by far,” Pau stated the obvious afterward. Nice job recognizing that his three range hasn’t been there. Instead of starting off firing threes, he moved in off the three line for the shorter 18-footers. He’s looked automatic in that 15-18 foot range. Once he got his confidence going from his sweet spots, he then read the game well and also hit from long range. He had his composure and the speed of the game wasn’t deterring him from being aggressive. As I mentioned, little by little he’s looking more comfortable out there on both ends. That just all seemed to come together in this game. He had a baseline drive and dunk, but also the two clutch FTs with 9 seconds left. It wasn’t Sasha Vujacic’s Freethrows of Death in game 7, but against the Celts, it’s still nice. Much improved on both ends. “That’s the type of player I know I am,” Kelly said. Show it to us again. D’Antoni gave him the start in the second half and his 34 minutes included some valuable crunch time. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-12 shooting (2-4 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He moved in off a fly by and hit the more automatic 18-footer from the wing. He let another man fly by, moved in and sank the wing jumper. He attacked and was blocked on the pull-up jumper. He up-faked to lose his man, attacked baseline and slammed. Second Half: He blocked a drive out of bounds. He up-faked, moved in a step, but missed the baseline jumper. He got tapped on a long three on a kickout. He crashed the glass and tipped in a miss in a crowd. Wow, looked like he drew a sure charge, but called for a block instead. He missed an easy hook across the lane. He attacked, spun at the elbow and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a corner three. He drained a three straight away off the two-man game with Marshall. He was called for a charge, picking up his fifth and had to sit. He took a swing pass and drained the wing three. He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He up-faked attacked off the three line and was hit on the layup attempt, he made both FTs. He was fouled with 9.4 left and a 1-point lead after taking a jumpball from Wes, he made both clutch ones.

D’Antoni -- -- He had a meeting to discuss the episode of the last game. Who knows how that went? Hopefully, he apparently didn’t stick to his same comments after the last game… The teams traded hoops by the time D’Antoni made his first subs, Manny Harris and Kelly for Hill and Johnson… They were tied 21-21 when the next timeout came. He sat Pau for Kaman and Marshall for Johnson. The dreaded no PG minutes… The Lakers led 25-23 after the first. Each team had just 1 turnover… Lakers would remedy that quickly. Some turnover-prone ball to start the second quarter and the Lakers trailed by 3 when D’Antoni called the timeout after a couple of minutes… He brought back in Marshall for Meeks… Down 6 when he brought in Pau and Hill… He sat Harris for Meeks down 8… Down 13 with more turnovers and D’Antoni called another timeout with 5:22 left… Good close to the half (9-2 run) and they trimmed the lead down… The Lakers trailed 58-52 at the half. The Lakers had a 15-4 advantage on the break, but the Celtics had a 34-28 advantage in points in the paint… D’Antoni started Kelly at PF in the second half for Hill… Lakers were down 1 when Meeks sat for Harris midway through the quarter… He called a timeout after back-to-back Celtic threes to extend the lead back up to 7... He brought in Sacre for Pau, instead of Kaman who was turnover prone. He sat Wes for Meeks, too… The Lakers trailed 82-76 heading into the fourth… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Harris, Meeks, Marshall lineup. Wow, step back and look at that lineup for a second… Down 3, he sat Kelly who picked up his fifth for Johnson and brought in Pau for Sacre… They cut it to 1, then gave up a couple hoops and D’Antoni called timeout… He brought back in Kelly for Harris… They cut it back to 3, then had an unforced error by Johnson and trailed by 8 after a couple of Celtic hoops. D’Antoni called another timeout… Threes by Wes and Meeks and they were back, cutting it to 2… After a timeout and three by Marshall, they took a 1-point lead… Lakers had a shotclock violation, then got a stop and took a timeout. They couldn’t inbound and took another timeout. Wes got tied up on a double team on the sideline. After a re-jump as both players knocked it out of bounds, Wes won it to Kelly who was fouled… After he hit both FTs, the Lakers got the stop and the W…
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lakersfreak
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:54 pm    Post subject:

Thx DB
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lakerican
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:58 pm    Post subject:

Meh, Im FIrst??!!
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lakerican
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:59 pm    Post subject:

Ok, haha! DB thankxx!!
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Anthem_Joker
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:14 pm    Post subject:

Can't wait to see more of Manny once he gets a little more familiar with the team.
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:58 pm    Post subject:

A win is a win is a win
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Klone_dd
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:14 pm    Post subject:

The team showed some pride. No better place to do that than in the Garden. Very satisfying to close the game on an 11-0 run.
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kobe_luver
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:26 pm    Post subject:

Thanks for the game writeup DB!!

Sweet win!!!
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pio2u
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:49 am    Post subject:

A win against Boston is always a sweet win!
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 7:39 am    Post subject:

I'm ok if we got 2-80 for the season so long as the 2 wins are against the Celtics.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:19 am    Post subject:

yinoma2001 wrote:
I'm ok if we got 2-80 for the season so long as the 2 wins are against the Celtics.




BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSTOOOON.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:19 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. This win over Boston made my night. We broke the losing streak and beat Boston at the same time.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:48 am    Post subject:


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magicdays
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:56 am    Post subject:

Whew, always nice to get a win against them. How sweet it is!!!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 1:03 pm    Post subject:

Thanks as always for a great writeup DB! That was fun! A win against Boston is always great, particularly on their home court.

It's also great to see underdogs like Kelly and Marshall come up with big games, and for that matter Mr. 60th pick Sacre holding his own on defense against Bass.
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