Lakers (16-5) at Celtics (13-9) Game #23 12/5/25

[Celtics2021]

Wonder if Horford is having buyers remorse right now.

Though we probably don?t see Walsh develop if horford was here taking his minutes.

Second time Al has made a mistake in leaving.  I wonder if he gets traded at the deadline and agrees to a buyout.  He would still be better than Garza, Tillman, and Boucher.

Is he even allowed to come back to the Celtics this season? Also, it's really becoming similar to PHI/OKC where his role is iffy, and he's just missing games due to random injuries. At least here he had a real role and could get consistent minutes and opportunities

Yeah, he left as a free agent when his contract ended.  We are free to trade for him (unlikely) or sign him if he?s waived (also unlikely but more likely than it would have appeared two months ago).

[tenn_smoothie]

I was very happy when I saw this final score vs the Lakers.
Then I read that LeBron and Doncic sat out.
Still glad to get the win, but would have been much more satisfying against a full Lakers roster.

Celts had been shooting less 3-pointers lately, which I was glad to see, but the last two games, they have been red-hot and are back in the 40+ attempts.
It's great when those 3's are falling. The problem, as we have seen repeatedly, is when we are not making them and have no other offensive scheme to go to.

[kraidstar]

I was very happy when I saw this final score vs the Lakers.
Then I read that LeBron and Doncic sat out.
Still glad to get the win, but would have been much more satisfying against a full Lakers roster.

Celts had been shooting less 3-pointers lately, which I was glad to see, but the last two games, they have been red-hot and are back in the 40+ attempts.
It's great when those 3's are falling. The problem, as we have seen repeatedly, is when we are not making them and have no other offensive scheme to go to.

LeBonds is ducking us on purpose. Cowardly little snake.

[Celtics4ever]

Great win

LeBonds is ducking us on purpose. Cowardly little snake.

 

Once a coward, always a coward.

[Phantom255x]

So I'm not stupid, obviously LAL was missing Luka, Lebron, and Smart.

But that Lakers defense was terrible, they were leaving guys wide open in the perimeter. And Smart is really the only guy who can probably help there.

I had them as a 4 seed in the West and still think they'll be around there at 3 or 4, but I am curious to see how they look when they start actually playing more of the meat in their conference (Denver, Houston, etc.). LAL so far has played the 5th easiest schedule in the NBA. I'll give them a lot of credit for starting 16-5 and beating teams like Minnesota (2x) and San Antonio, but they got shellacked by OKC a month ago and really haven't played many other elite teams yet

[ozgod]

Alot of us complain about how the Lakers seem to stumble into talent....but dont we also?
(Luka excluded for obvious reasons)
We have FANTASTIC wings for the sub 24 category....we have a starting quality pg that keeps getting better on arguably the best contract in the league...and is Queta better than Ayton? Its close at least.

We also need to give credit to the coaching staff. Yes we hate how Joe makes them shoot too many 3s and never calls timeouts (though he seems to have learned to do that) but talent by itself doesn't mean much unless it is nurtured, encouraged and developed. You can tell that they've spent a lot of time on Walsh to make him a better version of himself, and they are putting him, Minott, and Hugo in positions where they can be successful.

Coaching is more than just x's and o's, it's about getting the best out of your players and putting them in positions to succeed, and making sure all of them are correctly aligned and pulling in the same direction. Compare our team to that of Philly, who probably has more overall talent, but their team is all over the place, they don't look aligned at all. Some players are playing for contracts, others for the scoring title, others for ROTY, others are trying to come back from injury and prove they are worth the $$$ they're getting paid.

Joe has many faults, but getting his players motivated to pursue a common goal, despite all their personal agendas, is not one of them. If we criticize him for things he doesn't do that we like, I think he also deserves credit where it's due.

[satch]

Alot of us complain about how the Lakers seem to stumble into talent....but dont we also?
(Luka excluded for obvious reasons)
We have FANTASTIC wings for the sub 24 category....we have a starting quality pg that keeps getting better on arguably the best contract in the league...and is Queta better than Ayton? Its close at least.

We also need to give credit to the coaching staff. Yes we hate how Joe makes them shoot too many 3s and never calls timeouts (though he seems to have learned to do that) but talent by itself doesn't mean much unless it is nurtured, encouraged and developed. You can tell that they've spent a lot of time on Walsh to make him a better version of himself, and they are putting him, Minott, and Hugo in positions where they can be successful.

Coaching is more than just x's and o's, it's about getting the best out of your players and putting them in positions to succeed, and making sure all of them are correctly aligned and pulling in the same direction. Compare our team to that of Philly, who probably has more overall talent, but their team is all over the place, they don't look aligned at all. Some players are playing for contracts, others for the scoring title, others for ROTY, others are trying to come back from injury and prove they are worth the $$$ they're getting paid.

Joe has many faults, but getting his players motivated to pursue a common goal, despite all their personal agendas, is not one of them. If we criticize him for things he doesn't do that we like, I think he also deserves credit where it's due.

Agree

[liam]

Refs have done a nice job of screwing the Cs on foul shots...LA with 25 and the Cs with 8.....

It's disgusting!

Welcome back....missed you and your posts.

I've been following the games but kinda hanging back on the posting...

[hwangjini_1]

Refs have done a nice job of screwing the Cs on foul shots...LA with 25 and the Cs with 8.....

It's disgusting!

Welcome back....missed you and your posts.

I've been following the games but kinda hanging back on the posting...

good to see you back here.

[tenn_smoothie]

I was very happy when I saw this final score vs the Lakers.
Then I read that LeBron and Doncic sat out.
Still glad to get the win, but would have been much more satisfying against a full Lakers roster.

Celts had been shooting less 3-pointers lately, which I was glad to see, but the last two games, they have been red-hot and are back in the 40+ attempts.
It's great when those 3's are falling. The problem, as we have seen repeatedly, is when we are not making them and have no other offensive scheme to go to.

LeBonds is ducking us on purpose. Cowardly little snake.

My hatred of Lebron started when he finally knocked Garnett's team out of the playoffs that year and he stayed on the court for 30+ minutes wandering around literally looking for cameras to stick his face in front of. This was after he had put on his fake crying display on his knees at the end of the game. Of course, inviting his all-star buddies to gather on the same team in Miami so he could maybe win a title was equally disgusting.

[SparzWizard]

I was very happy when I saw this final score vs the Lakers.
Then I read that LeBron and Doncic sat out.
Still glad to get the win, but would have been much more satisfying against a full Lakers roster.

Celts had been shooting less 3-pointers lately, which I was glad to see, but the last two games, they have been red-hot and are back in the 40+ attempts.
It's great when those 3's are falling. The problem, as we have seen repeatedly, is when we are not making them and have no other offensive scheme to go to.

LeBonds is ducking us on purpose. Cowardly little snake.

My hatred of Lebron started when he finally knocked Garnett's team out of the playoffs that year and he stayed on the court for 30+ minutes wandering around literally looking for cameras to stick his face in front of. This was after he had put on his fake crying display on his knees at the end of the game. Of course, inviting his all-star buddies to gather on the same team in Miami so he could maybe win a title was equally disgusting.

I disliked LeBron in his early Cavs days, but my hatred for him grew when he defected Cleveland for Miami and forming a Big 3 there. Had that whole The Decision show followed by the Miami Welcoming Party "not 1, not 2, not 3" nonsense and that's when he's lost all respect. Those Heat/Celtics playoff battles left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I did pulled for the Cavs in 2016 to knock down the 73-9 Warriors, but went back to pulling for the Warriors in the Finals to take out LeBron Cavs for what they did to Boston those two years. Finally, the NBA made it easier for me to put all my hate in one place- LeBron on the Lakers.