CELTICS -at- LAKERS - 2-22-15 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Celtics vs. Lakers… It’s a rivalry game. The only rivalry that really matters to the organization and fans.

Byron Scott waged war throughout his career and developed a deep dislike for everything green. For a game, at least, all bets were off.

(Watch how Scott uses his vets vs. his young guys to see whether we are in tank mode. Tonight, Black was replaced by Boozer in the starting lineup. Sacre’s minutes were limited. Clarkson played only a couple of stints. Scott wanted the win over getting guys development time.)

“Coach probably wanted this one the most,” Ed Davis said afterward, mentioning how amped up Byron was for this one. Clarkson said Scott mentioned some things about the Celtics that the team won’t repeat publically.

Both teams traded hoops until the Lakers started to pull away in the fourth quarter behind Jeremy Lin, who scored 25 points to go with 6 assists with just 1 turnover. Scott went to a more offensive friendly Boozer/Johnson front court to allow for more spacing in crunch time.

It looked like the Lakers would pull away with this one. But not this season with this team. The Lakers lost a 7-point lead with 35 seconds left in regulation as they were whistled for offensive fouls and the Celtics sent it to overtime by hitting a three at the buzzer.

In OT, the offense was orchestrated through Lin and Boozer (Lin doing a great job all game finishing through contact). Nick Young stepped up on both ends of the floor (a key steal and block in regulation and OT when the Celtics tried to go after him on the defensive end with no success). The team is surprisingly good and falling apart to send games in overtime...and then somehow recover to take the win.

Scott put the tank … er, player development … aside for one game to take the 118-111 win over the Celtics.



Clarkson – -- Short minutes in the first half as Scott let Lin run the whole second quarter as he played strong. In the second half, it was more of the same. Scott wanted this one and Clarkson’s development would have to wait a game. Jordan got off to a momentarily bad start against Smart, getting picked and giving a clear-path foul to start the game. But he responded, attacking the pressure D effectively to get to the rim and score past him. Still, he had 3 turnovers in this one after that string of clean games. He’s probably lucky he didn’t have to face that pressure D in the final minute, too. Would have been interesting, though. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He was picked on his first possession by Smart and took a clear-path foul, oops. He probed and swished a pull-up elbow jumper. He blew past Smart and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. Pressure D to force a turnover. He attacked the pressure, spun to the middle of the lane to draw the help D, then dumped it to Boozer for the layup. He was hit on a three with no call and missed by several feet. He tried to organize the offense, nothing was happening so he attacked and was stripped. He had 5 points on 2-3 shooting in 8 minutes, but 2 turnovers. Second Half: He worked around the screens and hit the pull-up at the FT line. He missed a quick-fire wing chuck from 21 feet out. He blew past Smart’s pressure D and scored a layup. He was called for a push off on the split play. He missed a long pull-up jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He gave up an And-1 putback to Smart, not boxing out. He set up Davis for FTs off the two-man game. He got tapped on a wing three. Great job helping his bigs on the glass and tapping a defensive board to Hill.

Boozer -- -- Scott moved Boozer to the starting lineup to give the Lakers some better floor balance than the ill-conceived Black/Sacre duo. Problem with this is Boozer’s D against starters, not that the Lakers have played much of that recently. Down the stretch we moved Boozer to the C spot and Wes to PF. Our paint struggled to erase anything and the two-man D was a little soft. That three to tie it up had Boozer playing really soft on help. The storyline was really on the offensive end and how he was key for us to run our two-man game and the offense flowed out of that. Lin/Boozer should really be our bread and butter to close. We don’t have a lot of options, but Scott dialed their number and they delivered…eventually. “That was one of his best games, man. He did a great job of being a floor leader,” Boozer said of working with Lin out there. The two were the key to several scores in OT. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-10 shooting (0-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a 16-footer. He airballed a fallaway on iso. He scored a layup off the Clarkson drive and dish. He attacked baseline and drew FTs, he missed both. He attacked off the split play and missed a tough bank. He scored a layup off the interior pass from Davis. He scored an And-1 putback, but missed the FT. Second Half: He swished a FT jumper. He leveled Smart on a screen and drew a foul (his fourth). Overtime: He sank a 15-footer off the two-man game with Lin. He trailed Lin’s paint attack, took the pass and scored the layup. He leveled Lin’s man on a screen to free him up for the jumper. Finally a nice challenge on a three shooter and the shot didn’t hit rim, game over.

Ellington -- -- He made one of his threes tonight to quickly break that three-less streak he was one. He made a couple of FTs with 16 seconds left in regulation to help ice the game. Really not much of a contribution in this one, but his reputation helps spread the floor. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He swished a three straight away. Not close on a turnaround 18-footer. He sank a leaning jumper right at the FT line. He missed a short wing jumper next time down. Bad pass on the two-man game, layup the other way. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper to start the half. He attacked and was rejected easily. Overtime: He missed a wing three. He was fouled intentionally with 16 seconds left up by 5, he made both FTs.

Kelly -- -- The Celtics ran three ball handling guards, which meant Kelly was matched up with Evan Turner. Scott somehow got 21 minutes out of Kelly at the SF. Not a good match up and with Wes and Young both looking good offensively surprised it went that long in a game Scott wanted to win. Wish Kelly would hit the boards more at SF to use that length a little better when he’s out there. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He attacked off the three line and hit the elbow pull-up jumper for the Lakers first score (once again, the first shot of a half). He missed a lefty floater. He posted up a smaller man, muscled him and hit the short turnaround. He attacked Turner off the three line and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a wide open wing three at the end of the half. He had 6 points on 2-4 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He got backed down by Turner and fouled him in the post, ouch.

Sacre -- -- Limited minutes for the young guys. Sacre wasn’t bringing much unlike the last one and Scott used multiple Cs until closing it out with Boozer. Glad the Sacre/Black experiment may be over, although it’s not good for the tank. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: Lost in the zone and he gave up a layup. He was blocked on a jumphook. He missed a 3-foot jumphook. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper.

Hill -- -- He sank a few perimeter shots and was a bit turnover prone, going off the dribble trying to create instead of always settling for jumpers. Only Davis had any kind of defensive presence in the paint for the Lakers. Down the stretch we saw Scott go with Boozer and his more reliable jumper at the C spot to help space the floor. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-9 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He attacked off the three line and drew FTs in the paint. He swished a long wing jumper. He attacked baseline and drew FTs. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a jumphook. He was called for a travel attempting a jump step. He missed a 19-footer. He missed a wide open 17-footer. Second Half: He passed on the wide open jumper, attacked and was stripped for a score the other way. He sank a top-of-the-key jumper. He missed an 18-footer. He trailed the break and hit the 20-footer. He was called for a clear-out foul using his off arm. He missed a tough turnaround. He let a man go right by him for a score. He attacked across the lane and missed a jumphook, getting a late whistle, he missed both FTs.

Lin -- -- The And-1s tonight. Some great finishes by Lin off of contact. It was his team to run tonight. He came in to start the second quarter and Scott didn’t pull him out until halftime. He led the team with 12 points at the first half, getting to the rim and also scoring some very tough shots against contact and fouls. Scott brought him in a little earlier in the third quarter and he and Price closed out the game. Scott wanted this one, and he played his vets over the young guys. Lin came up huge. Had this been last year with D’Antoni’s offense, you would have seen a lot more of this. In the fourth, Scott put Wes at the PF to space the floor. (Of course, D’Antoni did this a lot last year, as his primary focus was having stretch fours with guys like Wes, Shawne and RKelly.) “The whole floor was open,” Lin said afterward. But note, Lin also had 12 points in the first half when we weren’t going small. As I mentioned last game, he and Price have developed some chemistry in how they run the offense together. They work the two-man games out of the system with speed and worked in time for Nick to get some looks. So tonight, he was really working out of both types of offensive schemes. As I mentioned, Lin was a year too late to this team. Great game with the season high in points and low turnovers. “It’s been a long year, but we came out here and played our hearts out,” Lin said. He said he just tried to stay aggressive and that it helped having guys hitting shots. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-15 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He attacked the paint and scored a layup. He attacked down the middle of the lane with speed and scored a backhand layup. He set up Davis for a layup off the two-man game on the next possession. He picked Smart and drew FTs on the breakaway, he made both. He attacked, drew contact and flipped a shot up over his shoulder (almost backward) and the And-1 went in, he made the FT. He probed on the perimeter and drew FTs with the Lakers in the bonus, he made one. He attacked with speed in transition, took contact, no whistle but threw in the 10-footer after the mugging and it went in, he wondered where the call was. His pass in the paint was picked off. He missed a three on a two-for-one (Boozer would clean it up). He had 12 points on 4-5 shooting (4-5 from the line) and 1 assist. Second Half: He drew a push-off foul on Smart. Sweet lefty bounce pass to Davis around defenders as they worked the two-man game. He attacked, stopped on a dime and missed the short one in the paint. He swished a wing three on the kickout from Nick. He attacked to his left, took contact and hit the hanging And-1 fade, he missed the FT, however. He worked off the high screen and swished the 19-footer. Next time down, he attacked off the high screen, drew the D and dished to Wes for the easy layup and Celtic timeout. He took the handoff from price at the top of the arc, exploded down the lane and scored a layup. He missed a quick-fire jumper off the weakside two-man game. He missed a three with a minute left. Overtime: He attacked with speed off the handoff, took contact and finished over the big. He deflected a pass off a Celtic to get a turnover on the other end. He hit Boozer on the two-man game for the 15-footer. He attacked baseline, nearly out of control, but he recovered and kicked to Wes for the baseline jumper. Short on a pull-up jumper. He attacked the lane with speed, collapsed the D and dumped it off to Boozer trailing for the layup. Boozer leveled his man on the screen and Lin swished the pull-up elbow jumper.

Young -- -- “This was a rivalry game,” Nick said. He mentioned the history of the two tames afterward. Twice the Celtics tried to attack him in the post on D. Once in regulation where Nick poked the ball away for a steal. The second time, he ate the shot up with a rejection and controlled it. “I just locked Evan Turner up. You’ve seen…thrown him in jail,” Swaggy said. Just a very good effort in those situations late in the game. “I think defensively against Evan Turner, he did a heck of a job,” Scott said, rare praise from Scott on that end of the floor. Offensively, the guards did a good job being the point of attack, but including opportunities for Nick. It seemed very well balanced and Nick was able to execute, finally. Very efficient game, which is rare. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 5-9 shooting (3-5 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: Lost on help D and he gave up a dunk (no help from Hill, either). He swished a wing jumper on his first attempt. He drilled a step-back wing three up against the shotclock. He was stripped on the perimeter, dunk the other way. He missed a three out of a timeout. He had 5 points on 2-3 shooting. Second Half: He missed a fading FT jumper. He swished a wing three working off the screen. He missed another one next time down. He attacked with purpose off the three line and got hit hard for FTs, he made both. He iso’d, drew the D, nearly coughed it up but hit Lin for the three. He drained a big wing three coming off a screen next time down. He made one of two techs. Nick Young on iso D in the post out of a timeout forcing a big turnover, very nice. He then hit a baseline jumper on the other end. He was fouled with 12 seconds left (lucky he got that call because it was about to be a game-tying layup on the other end), he made both clutch FTs. More FTs with 8.2 seconds left up by 2, he short-armed the first one, he made the second. That gave the Celtics the opportunity to tie it up. Overtime: He missed a wing jumper to start the OT. They tried to go iso against Nick in the post again, he rejected the shot and controlled it. They tried to attack him off the dribble, good challenge and we got the miss.

Black -- -- Out of the starting lineup. Who knows, maybe he starts the next one. But probably not based on the 3 fouls in his 4 first half minutes tonight. He did get some boards. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 4 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He was called for an illegal screen. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Davis -- -- I thought we should have seen some offense/defense subs down the stretch off deadballs with Davis. We could have used his mobility and length challenging shots versus Boozer in the final minute. Seemed like that should have been the call from the bench. Good job challenging shots in this one. He erased a number of layup attempts by Celtic guards. Offensively, he had some moments working off the two-man game. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-4 form the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He rejected Thomas’s drive to get a shotclock violation. He scored a layup off the two-man game with Lin. He took the pass off the Lin two-man game, attacked and fed Boozer for the layup. Second Half: He rejected Smart’s drive. He was hacked working the two-man game with Clarkson (good job not putting the ball down in traffic), he missed both FTs, however. He swatted more guard penetration. He drew FTs trying to create in the paint, he made one. He couldn’t finish off a Price steal in the backcourt. He reversed off a nice bounce pass from Lin to find him in the paint. He battled for an offensive board and reset the offense (it led to Young FTs).

Johnson -- -- After the DNP, his best scoring game of the year. He was efficient and spot on with the jumper, missing just twice in 11 attempts. “Be ready when my number was called,” Wes said. “I was pissed I didn’t play.” Scott ran him at SG, SF and PF in this game, his defensive versatility allowing that. His shot making, made it worthwhile for sure tonight. Hard to say whether Scott starts going small more to spread the floor. I know Lin would sure appreciate it. Good job being aggressive, but taking mostly good looks. The 22 points could have also been 25 had Wes 0.7 on the clock on an inbounds instead of 0.6. He had a banked three taken away on. Wes was in on a key offensive foul when he was triple teamed in the corner in the final minute and whistled for knocking a Celtic over. That helped this one go into OT. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-11 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He attacked the poor D and scored a layup. He iso’d and traveled. He crashed the glass, hung and tipped it in nicely. He banked in a three at the buzzer but it was taken away on review as he didn’t get it off before 0.6 expired. He swished a wing three. He had 7 points on 3-3 shooting. Second Half: He was fouled working on iso and getting bailed out on what looked like it might be a tough shot, he made both FTs. He ballwatched and gave up a dunk to Smart backdoor, uggh. He missed a wing three, but got back and swiped the long outlet. He sank an elbow fallaway to beat the shotclock. He jumped a passing lane, swiped it and took it for the dunk (more please). He sank a quick-fire wing three. He missed a tough, turnaround bank shot. Iso on the wing, he lost the ball, got it back and swished the long jumper. He got the rare kickout foul on Smart on a three (his fifth). He was called for an offensive foul on a triple team as a Celtic went down. Overtime: He swished a baseline jumper off the Lin kickout.

Price -- -- He got fouled out in the final minute on a flop/arm pull by Marcus Smart. Refs fell for it and that made things slightly more interesting than they should have been and helped the Celtics get to OT. He scratched out a few points at the FT line, didn’t hit a shot otherwise, but ran the offense well. He and Lin look well together out there. If Price was a more complete threat, they’d be more effective. Price led the team with 4 steals, getting after it and hitting the floor for loose balls on the defensive end. Just a great effort. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 turnovers and 6 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made both. Bad pass on the two-man game, turnover. Second Half: He swiped a ball in the backcourt. He jumped the passing lane to swipe the ball but was off mark on the lob pass, turnover. He tied up Turner after poking a ball loose. Not close on a long pull-up jumper. On the floor again next time down and he called a timeout before they could tie him up. He missed a wide open corner three. He had to force up a bad shot as Wes kicked out to him with barely anytime on the shotclock, he missed. Wow, sensational defensive play in transition to block a bigger man and the refs called a bogus foul. He drew FTs on a pass off, he made one. Smart pulled and flopped on Price on an inbounds pass to get a turnover/stop.

Scott -- -- Lakers open up in a zone and promptly give up an open three. The Lakers were down 19-12, just no D again when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Out of that timeout, he brought in Johnson, Davis and Hill to go with Kelly Clarkson… He brought in Swaggy and Price for those two shortly later… The Lakers trailed 32-26 after the first quarter… He brought in Lin to start the second quarter. Price had two fouls (curious if this was the original rotation)… Lakers in the bonus in less than 3 minutes… Down 6, he sat Hill for Boozer… Lin having a good quarter… Ellington in for Wes, Kelly in for Nick, Lakers down 2... Black in for Davis (instead of Sacre)… Lots of FTs for the Lakers… Lakers pulled out to a 6-point lead on a 12-0 run before the Celtics finally scored… All players available go to play in the half… The Lakers trailed 58-56 at the half. The Lakers shot 53%… “Illegal defense on the Lakers? They don’t play any defense. How can it be illegal?” Stu asked to start the second half… Boozer out with four fouls for Hill after 3 minutes, Lakers down 2… Davis in for Sacre… Wes in for Kelly, Lakers down 5… Down 4, he sat Clarkson with 3 minutes left for Price… Lin in for Ellington to close the quarter… The Lakers trailed 78-73 heading into the fourth. Davis, Johnson, Young, Lin, Price lineup to start the quarter… Zone out of a timeout and they got a shotclock violation. They took a lead on the other end… The Lakers led 85-84 when a timeout came midway through the quarter when Price hit the floor for a loose ball… Boozer in for Davis at the C spot… Thomas got ejected with two techs off a questionable call. Lakers up 5 off the tech… Lin taking over down the stretch, forcing a Celtic timeout as the Lakers extended their lead to 9… Hard to get protection at the rim with Boozer in this lineup and the Celtics know it, but the Lakers holding strong so far… They led by 7 with 2 minutes left when the timeout came… The whistle started going the Celtics way in the final minute on some offensive fouls (Scott was irate)… Celtics cut it to 2 with 18 seconds left… Lakers made two FTs with 12 seconds left to push it to 4. Defensive sub at the C this time? Nope. Boozer still in. Quick layup for the Celtics on a drive. Nick fouled again for FTs… Nick only made one and the Celtics tied it up with a three (Boozer key on this two-man sequence with Lin, just very soft D)… Scott said he may rethink his strategy to not foul when up by 3. “This year for some reason it seems like it’s kind of evening out,” Scott said… Overtime… Same unit to start the OT (Ellington had come in for Price, who fouled out on that Smart flop), Wes jumping at the C spot for the tip and not getting it… Lin orchestrated the offense and the Lakers pulled out to a 6-point lead and forced the timeout with 2 minutes left… After an And-1, the Celtics cut it to 3… This time the Lakers held strong to close…

[SweetP]

We won, whoo hoo!
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[fafan]

Thanks, just fotget tanking tonight, enjoy the win.
_________________
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.

[xiaozhugong]

@SerenaWinters: Celtics Coach Brad Stevens: "I though Jeremy Lin killed us the whole night. He was really effective in a lot of ways."

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Charisma]

Thanks DB! This game confirms that BScott DOES know who his best players are and how to use them if and when he's looking to win.

The game thread is unreadable. I understand why some people want the team to tank; I just don't understand why those people would bother watching the game. The real fans at the game were definitely cheering for the Lakers to win.

[TDRock]

Yay win!

[mhan00]

Very glad we didn't get Smart. Ugly watching him try to shoot, and both Lin and Clarkson blew by him a few times.

[KLS]

For one game when Byron Scott wants to beat the hated Celtics, Lin is allowed to play his game to his strength and we see a glimpse of Linsanity. Why not more, Coach Scott, when we know we have the top 5 draft locked in? Let Lin play the game like tonight and see what kind of game we will see.

[Reflexx]

Loved how Clarkson responded to Smart. Makes you wonder which one should have been a high draft pick.

[TheBlackMamba]

[tyusedney1]

both Wes and Lin played well and it's because there was spacing on the floor for the very first time this season. why did it take so long for BS to realize this even with Kobe off the floor? Wes playing the 4 to stretch the floor opened it up for Lin or anyone else to drive the lane and have a choice to either finish it, dump it off to a big, or even kick it out to a shooter. thought this was obvious. gotta use the player's strengths. even if BS don't like pnr, he can at least allow Lin some space to drive.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Captain America]

Thanks DB great breakdown

[Travers]

Spacing and uptempo game which is Lin's bread and butter.

[cdg]

Mixed feelings here.

They should make it so that one can win and still KEEP that pick.

I'll be really pissed if it was this game that made the difference
between keeping the pick or not.

[meows a lot]

How's boston's defense normally? They turned it up at the end. As usual lakers can't handle lock down pressure d. Almost lost the game, but kept the momentum going in OT

How likely will Byron stick with this bench rotation? (Not the number of min though I undersrsnd this game is an anomaly since bench was playing extremely well)

For all the hardcore Lin fans out there - does Lin generally play better after the break?
_________________
“We do have a lot in common.
The same air, the same Earth, the same sky.
Maybe if we started looking at
what's the same instead of
always looking at what's different,

...well, who knows?”

- Meowth

[bws94]

Thanks DB, it's been a long time since a win. Great that Wes contributed so much. No surprise with Lin, this is what he's capable of when he puts his mind to it. Good comeback game for Swaggy and Price's grit and hustle was a big part of the Lakers pulling ahead. Byron coached this game right today, he coached to win. If you are pro-tank, well, this is off that script.

[tgards7979]

[lakerpr]

[tirebiter]

[meows a lot]

Thanks, will be interesting to see how he keeps playing with Ronnie.

I dont mind Price - he is a team player.

[Reflexx]

[swoosh-it]

Enjoyed a great game for a change.

[maomao]