CELTICS -at- LAKERS – 4-3-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

One Last Ride… The sands in the hourglass of Kobe’s career are just about to trickle empty. Tonight, his last game against the Boston Celtics. He brought it.

He played with intensity and fire, pouring in 34 points trying to get a W. A great effort and a great show for those who came out to see him.

“This probably the first game in a while that KB was dead serious for the whole game,” Scott said, saying he understands the rivalry.

The Lakers fell behind in the first half as the lead ballooned from 3 to 17 points when Clarkson returned and Isaiah Thomas feasted on his D once again. Thomas had 21 points in the first half.

Between the second and third quarter, however, the Lakers rallied on a 19-2 run to tie it up just a few minutes into the second half. A new ball game, as they say. Kobe carrying the team at times in his final ride against the Celtics.

Digging out from holes, however, is hard to sustain. That next rally from your opponent can be a death blow. That’s what ultimately happened.

The Celtics got an 11-point lead in the fourth, and it was just too much. They Lakers dropped their 60th game of the season, 107-100. Sixty losses. Painful.

“We’ve got to get a whole lot better defensively, individually and collectively,” Scott said.


Kobe -- -- The last time Kobe suited up in the purple and gold armor to go to war against the Celtics. His favorite championship was the one against the Celtics. Probably, mine as well. It doesn’t get better than getting over the Celtics in a 7 games for a ring. So he brought a little something extra tonight and lit up the Celtics for 18 points in the first half, including a rare throwdown on a steal. He didn’t let up. His legs looked pretty good in this one with elevation early on while shooting jumpers and, of course, that dunk. He got tapped on some big shots in the game. The Lakers probably needed 40 from him to will this one to a win. Just an excellent night, showing pretty much the wide range of his game. Scott said he’s going to play Kobe a lot of minutes down the stretch at home in the last games. The Stats: He scored 34 points on 11-28 shooting (4-11 from three, 8-10 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He jab stepped and sank a long wing jumper to start the Lakers scoring. He sank a wing three from the right side. He got tapped on a wing three on a quick turn and shoot next time he touched it. He missed an elbow turnaround. He swiped a bad pass in transition. He posted up and drew a foul (irked a call didn’t happen earlier), he made both FTs. He got tapped on a baseline turnaround. He swiped a backcourt pass and drew FTs, he made both. He posted up, spun and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a three straight away. Back in and he swished a deep three from the right wing. He missed a pull-up from the left side, nice elevation on the shot. He missed a turnaround chuck. He missed a wing three. He scored a layup when his man went for a steal and came up empty in the post. He jumped the passing lane, stripped the ball on a reach and took it the distance for a dunk. He had 18 points on 5-12 shooting and 3 steals. Second Half: He missed a pull-up wing jumper to start the second half. He missed an elbow fade and wanted the foul. He cut baseline as Russell was trapped and Russell found him for the And-1, he made the FT. He probed, saw JC diving and whipped a pass to him for a layup. He scooped up a loose ball, missed the layup, but Clarkson scored the putback. He sank a wing three right in his man’s face. He missed a pull-up three. He sank a wing three on a kickout. He missed a long two. He missed a tech FT. He lost his man on a spin and couldn’t finish the reverse, crowd wanted that one. He got it back a few seconds later and missed the long one from the sideline. He missed a Dirk fade in the post a couple seconds after entering the game. He spun around his man right off the catch and he banked in the short one in the paint, he wanted the foul. He posted up, swung through and drew FTs, he made one. He sank a drifting corner jumper over the double team. He lost his man on an up-and-under and scored. He got tapped on a wing three in transition that would have cut it to 2. He missed a long three.

Clarkson -- -- Some awful defense again Isaiah Thomas, giving up a good chunk of his 21 first half points (on 8-11 shooting). The Celtics were picking on him quite a bit on D. Scott asked the guys at halftime how many of them got into a real fist fight. He asked, did you just stand there and take the punches? Maybe that resonated with Clarkson and the team because they seemed to bounce back with a stronger second half, scoring 11 on 4-7 shooting and playing better on D. There were still breakdowns, but we weren’t just letting the Celtics (and Thomas) get whatever they wanted. Clarkson said they were blitzing the screens more. “We should have done that earlier to get him out of his rhythm a little bit,” Clarkson said. Tough to say whether they game planned not to do that or just didn’t follow the game plan. Hard to dig out of big holes, though, and win. Thomas scored just 5 in the second half. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-16 shooting (2-5 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a pull-up 18-footer to start the game. He hit Russell with a bounce pass backdoor for the layup. He lost his man on a change of direction spin on the dribble behind a pick, then crossed over on the help D and scored the layup. He turned the corner and drew contact for FTs, he made one. He stripped Smart on a drive and missed a layup in transition the other way. He sank a wing three on a kickout from Huertas that was a little off the mark. He missed an elbow pull-up. Some matador defense to give up an And-1 to Isaiah. More awful defense. Way short on an elbow jumper. He missed a pull-up in the paint. He missed a wing three, way short. He had 6 points on 2-9 shooting. Second Half: He attacked off the Russell pass, hung and scored the short one. Nice dive off of Kobe’s dribble probe and Kobe found him for the layup. Looked like he fumbled a ball right to Kobe as he cut baseline, Kobe missed but Clarkson followed it up and scored the putback layup. He was called for a double dribble after a probe. Not close on a three. His man scored on him on one end, then he threw a bad perimeter pass on the other end for points the other way, rally killer sequence. He missed an open sideline three. He attacked and was blocked. He swished a sideline three on a kickout. He drew an offensive foul when his man tried to seal him in the paint. He drew a perimeter foul on a Lou-like chuck on a reach, he made both FTs.

Russell -- -- Interesting game from Russell. He was spraying the ball all over the court for turnovers in the first half and couldn’t hit a shot, but he still found some ways to contribute out there. He went after boards and also found teammates for scores or points on FTs. At the end of the night he led in assists, turnovers and nearly rebounds. He just couldn’t get on track offensively. A couple of his shots, I think he was expecting to get whistles on, but he was missing from the perimeter consistently. Still, glad to see him contribute in other ways when the shots weren't dropping. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-14 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 6 turnovers and no fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He lost the dribble off a foot on a drive, turnover. He set up Randle for a jumper off the two-man game. He cut baseline as Clarkson attacked, took the bounce pass and reversed. He missed a quick-fire sideline three. Quick attack in early offense and he scored a layup with his right around the help D. He hit Randle cutting backdoor for FTs. He curled into the lane and lobbed to Black for the slam. Turnover when Nance couldn’t handle a pass, not sure who’s to blame for that one. He missed an open 17-footer. Poor pass into the shins of Black on the two-man game for a score the other way. He missed a corner three. He missed a scoop in the paint between some defenders. Wild kickout out of bounds when the D converged on him on a drive. Another turnover off a handoff to Kobe, layup the other way. He missed a wing three. Nice post entry to Kobe whose man gambled and missed, Kobe with the layup. He had 4 points on 2-7 shooting, 7 boards, 3 assists and 5 turnovers. Second Half: He was trapped on the sideline and somehow found Kobe cutting for an And-1 layup before falling out of bounds. He missed a wing jumper, followed it up, grabbed the loose ball and reversed. He battled for a defensive board, pushed it out like a fullback, shedding one defender with an off arm, getting contact with another in the paint and he scored the And-1, he missed the FT. He couldn’t reverse in transition taking a pass maybe a beat too late. He missed an off-balance wing jumper expecting a foul call. His kickout was picked off, points the other way. He missed a sideline three. He set up Hibbert for FTs on the two-man game. He attacked and missed expecting a foul that didn’t come. He ball-faked to Kobe and hit Randle cutting for the And-1 layup.

Randle -- -- “We may have thought we were playing hard, but we weren’t,” Randle said afterward. I like it. Pretty decent game from him. In the future, we’re going to see more 20-10 games with regularity. He is just too much of a beast out there. Combine that beast with more perimeter touch and look out. Good job getting to the line tonight as he’s just a load to deal with already. He had his usual garbage plays and also some nice finishes in transition. His bigs also did a good job finding him, as well. I hope he leaves the season with a bad taste in his mouth from all the losing. This one seemed to leave a bad taste with him. “They played harder than us the whole game consistently,” Randle said. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +/- of 0. The Action: He rattled in a 17-footer off the two-man game. He drew FTs when Russell spotted him cutting behind his man, he made one. He missed a layup on a drive. He attacked the paint, took contact with no call and finished. He drew FTs on a baseline drive, he made one again. He gathered himself under the hoop off a pass from Hibbert and powered in a layup. He backed his man down and swished the fade in the lane. He grabbed a board in a crowd, pushed it up with a few seconds left and bullied his way past a defender for the layup with 0.2 left in the half. He had 12 points on 5-6 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He missed a drive left across the lane. He missed an up-and-under, got it back and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a baseline fade, rare we see him take that. Careless on the perimeter and the ball was slapped out of his hands. He scored an And-1 off the feed from Hibbert, he made the FT. He pushed it up, lost a man on a behind-the-back dribble and hit Clarkson for the three. He took the Russell pass and scored the And-1 layup with his right, getting under cut, he made the clutch FT.

Hibbert -- -- Up and down game for Hibbert. He had some moments of rim protection and also struggled a bit to deal with the perimeter players (both his own and the guards). Offensively, his passing was better than anything he did scoring wise. He finished the game with 4 assists, finding his bigs a little more in this one. Some better games from him of late. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a jumphook. He found Randle under the hoop for a layup. Second Half: He swished a hook across the lane. He swatted a layup and controlled it. Another good challenge on guard penetration and he blocked it out of bounds. He missed an open jumper to blow a highlight Kobe drive and kick. He up-faked, moved in closer and hit Randle for the And-1 layup. He drew FTs on the two-man game with Russell, he made both.

Nance -- -- We got to see a lob off a backscreen set up for him out of a timeout. That’s something that shouldn’t be a once in a while thing, as I’ve mentioned. He also had a nice pull-up jumper from the FT line. Good elevation on that. If that can be part of his arsenal in the future, it makes him much more deadly from that elbow area. Defensively, he was active coming up with a couple of steals and battling continually. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a baseline floater. He attacked down the lane and dumped it off to Black for the layup. Second Half: He kicked out to Kobe for the three. He slammed off the Huertas lob as he came off a backscreen by Tarik. He missed a baseline jumper on an inbounds. He got tapped on a 15-footer trying to beat the shotclock. He was bear hugged on the break for FTs on the long outlet, he made one. He faced up, dribbled right and swished the FT pull-up.

Black -- -- With Bass sitting, Tarik got the backup C minutes. He had a nice shotblock on his man on D and finished a lob from Russell (more of that, please). Wish we could have seen more of Russell/Black this year. Hopefully, Scott is sitting the vets more to close the season. Only way to get better for next season is get some seasoning for our young guys. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He was stuffed trying to attack down the middle of the lane. He scored a layup on a drive and dish from Nance. He slammed on the lob from Russell. He missed a short jumphook on a roll to the hoop. Second Half: Nice backscreen to set up the Nance lob. He smothered his man on D for three seconds on the other end. He battled for an offensive board and drew FTs on the pumpfake, but he missed both. Quick ups to reject a layup and control it. XXX

Huertas -- -- A little fire in him against the Celtics. He shoved Thomas who was grabbing him and then got in his face. That will score some points with fans when it’s against the Celtics. Interesting watching Huertas vs. Clarkson on their D early on against Isaiah Thomas. Much better angles and coverage by Huertas with so much less athleticism. He had some nice moments on the two-man game, hitting those runners or setting up teammates. In the fourth, however, he had a few poor possessions. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed an easy runner on a drive from the left wing. He kicked out to Clarkson for the three. He rattled in a runner off the two-man game. He sank a short wing pull-up jumper off the two-man game. He couldn’t connect with Russell who cut down the lane, turnover, points the other way. Second Half: He lobbed to Nance for the slam out of the timeout. He sank the Nash-like runner off the two-man game. He missed a scoop in the lane trying to create with the shotclock (should have used his off arm). Bad cross-court pass, turnover. He iso’d and missed a scoop, poor possession.

Kelly -- -- Just too little impact in his 15 minutes. He had his usual fails on potentially big plays. He also missed another three. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He strip-blocked his man as he rose up for a shot. Second Half: He missed a 3-footer off a great job crashing the offensive glass. He swished the 16-footer flashing to the ball at the FT line. He missed a wing three, left open (1 of 20 now?).

Scott -- -- Scott sat some of the vets in the game to give the youngsters more run. Out of the rotation now were Bass and Lou… Lakers down 4 when Huertas came in for Russell midway through the quarter… Kelly in for Randle, Lakers down 4 a minute later… Black in for Hibbert… Nance in for Kobe, down 9… The Lakers trailed 31-26 after the first quarter… He started the Black, Nance, Kelly, Russell, Huertas lineup… Lakers down 2 when Kelly sat for Randle… Down 6 after some turnovers, Kobe in for Nance and Hibbert in for Black with 6:42 left… Clarkson in for Huertas down 3… The lead quickly ballooned to 14 on a Celtic 14-3 run. Laker guard D was just awful. Timeout Lakers… The Lakers finished the half with an 8-0 run to trail by 57-48… Great start to the half and they tied it up, forcing a timeout… Up 1 when Clarkson sat for Heurtas… Nance in for Randle… Black in for Hibbert, score tied… Kobe sitting with 2:41 left, score tied. Kelly in… The Lakers trailed 77-75 heading into the fourth… Black, Nance, Kelly, Clarkson, Huertas… Scott called a timeout when the Celtics went on a run to take a 7-point lead… Lakers down 6 with 7:44 when Kobe returned for Kelly… Starting five in, so Hibbert, Randle and Russell all in down 11… They cut it to 4 with 28 seconds left. Timeout Celtics… Lakers have to foul/go for a steal. Clarkson nearly gave up an And-1 layup after getting lost… Kobe could have cut it to 2 on a three that went down and out. That would be the ball game… The Lakers lost the break 21-13…

[Halflife]

Funny nick wasn't there. Fun game. They are a year better than us.

Btw- fizerst

[ChefLinda]

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[SweetP]

Thanks DB. Good games from Kobe and Julius, wish some of the other guys had brought it more consistently, might have pulled out a W.

Kobe did have his serious face on all game Nice to see some fire in Huertas too.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[pio2u]

THX DB. Really good team effort. Glad to see Kobe put on yet another great performance.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB.

[IPK]

Wow.

Vitti is the man. 32 years... damn. Magic.

Still, buck foston is the motto.

Good to see Kobe lit 'em up one last time. That pivot at the top of the key, thoe. And was the Russell and-1 shot a no-look basket? He appeared to turn his head as the whistle blew.

Know it's not done enough, but... thank you for delivering in the clutch with these T&R's, DB. I have a great deal of admiration and appreciation for how you describe the game with words (and emoticons). It's almost as if you see the game in all of its dimensions and layers. Many of us count on you to provide a perspective that heightens our own understanding of not only each game, but of the team we root for so passionately. Disregard the rant. Just wanted you to know that you inspire us. You're this generation's Hearn.


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Our tribute to Phil, the man behind LG

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[A Mad Chinaman]

Most important question asked during the post game show is which player(s) will demand accountability on the court like Coop

Who will play the "Kirk Gibson-role" next season. Which player(s) are able to go into "Mamba-Mode" to get us a ring?

[tox]

I only caught the 2nd quarter, but Huertas impressed me with his D. He was very serviceable. D'Lo played some pretty solid, energetic defense as well. Clarkson... he was just awful defensively. There was one play he guarded the SnR well, and I made a mental note to watch his defense after that... and it was just a trainwreck.

Russell's turnovers sparked a big run for the Celtics... just some really questionable passes. I probably caught the wrong quarter.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[Lakers#1Team]

[Chronicle]

Coulda used Lou and Bass to win this one......
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Kobe

[Shaber]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[yinoma2001]

DB, just tank the rest of the games.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals