Lakers (24-25) at Celtics (37-11) Game #49 2/1/24

[Atzar]

Reaching for positives here, one of the (few) interesting things I saw last night happened at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Hauser shot us back into the game for a moment.  We then spent the next few possessions actively hunting his offense, running him hard off of screens for quality looks instead of just expecting him to stand out there and provide spacing and a passing outlet.  Much more active role in the offense as opposed to the passive one he usually plays.

We went away from it after he missed a couple of times, but frankly I didn't think we even had that option in the playbook.  For an offense that can stagnate and get predictable sometimes, I'd like us to keep pushing that button from time to time.  Chasing a good shooter through hell and back can be a difficult assignment for a defense. 

[tonydelk]

Reaching for positives here, one of the (few) interesting things I saw last night happened at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Hauser shot us back into the game for a moment.  We then spent the next few possessions actively hunting his offense, running him hard off of screens for quality looks instead of just expecting him to stand out there and provide spacing and a passing outlet.  Much more active role in the offense as opposed to the passive one he usually plays.

We went away from it after he missed a couple of times, but frankly I didn't think we even had that option in the playbook.  For an offense that can stagnate and get predictable sometimes, I'd like us to keep pushing that button from time to time.  Chasing a good shooter through hell and back can be a difficult assignment for a defense.

Last night was a joke.  This homestand has been a joke thus far.  They look bored and uninspired.  This team needs to develop a killer instinct and needs to play hard every night.  Last night they thought it would be a cakewalk.  The Lakers hustled and just wanted it more.  I love the Celtics but this homestand has not been fun to watch for Celtic fans.  I want the team to be the bully's every night.  I want our C's to be the first to dive on the floor for a loose ball.  This kind of stretch is where they are missing Marcus Smart's effort and intensity.  There is no one on the team to get them to get their shi* together and play harder. 

[Kernewek]

Reaching for positives here, one of the (few) interesting things I saw last night happened at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Hauser shot us back into the game for a moment.  We then spent the next few possessions actively hunting his offense, running him hard off of screens for quality looks instead of just expecting him to stand out there and provide spacing and a passing outlet.  Much more active role in the offense as opposed to the passive one he usually plays.

We went away from it after he missed a couple of times, but frankly I didn't think we even had that option in the playbook.  For an offense that can stagnate and get predictable sometimes, I'd like us to keep pushing that button from time to time.  Chasing a good shooter through hell and back can be a difficult assignment for a defense.

Last night was a joke.  This homestand has been a joke thus far.  They look bored and uninspired.  This team needs to develop a killer instinct and needs to play hard every night.  Last night they thought it would be a cakewalk.  The Lakers hustled and just wanted it more.  I love the Celtics but this homestand has not been fun to watch for Celtic fans.  I want the team to be the bully's every night.  I want our C's to be the first to dive on the floor for a loose ball.  This kind of stretch is where they are missing Marcus Smart's effort and intensity.  There is no one on the team to get them to get their shi* together and play harder.

But remember we traded Smart (and Grant) to unlock the roster's full potential. 

[SparzWizard]

Celtics going through a slump right now. They haven't looked as dominant as they did pre-January. Their home games after the Nuggets game has been abysmal as if teams are now licking their chops playing at the Garden.

It's like they are reverting back to the old C's of past couple years. Tend to play well on the road but home stand they become carefree. I'll be extra concerned if they lose either Game 1 or 2 at home in the first round.

[Atzar]

Celtics going through a slump right now. They haven't looked as dominant as they did pre-January. Their home games after the Nuggets game has been abysmal as if teams are now licking their chops playing at the Garden.

It's like they are reverting back to the old C's of past couple years. Tend to play well on the road but home stand they become carefree. I'll be extra concerned if they lose either Game 1 or 2 at home in the first round.

I don't think we're reverting.  Slumping, sure.  I think January was a brutal month in terms of competition and pace and we just wore down.  Over the last few games, even in the wins against NOP and Indy, I thought we looked like a tired team.  Pace has dropped, slow to long rebounds and loose balls, late on closeouts, not cutting or screening with the same urgency. 

Thankfully, light week coming up.  Good time for it.

[Donoghus]

Celtics going through a slump right now. They haven't looked as dominant as they did pre-January. Their home games after the Nuggets game has been abysmal as if teams are now licking their chops playing at the Garden.

It's like they are reverting back to the old C's of past couple years. Tend to play well on the road but home stand they become carefree. I'll be extra concerned if they lose either Game 1 or 2 at home in the first round.

I don't think we're reverting.  Slumping, sure.  I think January was a brutal month in terms of competition and pace and we just wore down.  Over the last few games, even in the wins against NOP and Indy, I thought we looked like a tired team.  Pace has dropped, slow to long rebounds and loose balls, late on closeouts, not cutting or screening with the same urgency. 

Thankfully, light week coming up.  Good time for it.

Grande made a tweet about it before last night's game.

Defintely lightening up.

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
While LeBron and AD's DNPs are the story tonight, this game marks a big shift in the Celtics schedule..

This is the Celtics' 16th game in the last 27 days.  Going back farther, it's their 24th game in 44 days.

After tonight?

It's 9 games in 28 days.

From 16 in 27, to 9 in 28.

[SparzWizard]

Celtics going through a slump right now. They haven't looked as dominant as they did pre-January. Their home games after the Nuggets game has been abysmal as if teams are now licking their chops playing at the Garden.

It's like they are reverting back to the old C's of past couple years. Tend to play well on the road but home stand they become carefree. I'll be extra concerned if they lose either Game 1 or 2 at home in the first round.

I don't think we're reverting.  Slumping, sure.  I think January was a brutal month in terms of competition and pace and we just wore down.  Over the last few games, even in the wins against NOP and Indy, I thought we looked like a tired team.  Pace has dropped, slow to long rebounds and loose balls, late on closeouts, not cutting or screening with the same urgency. 

Thankfully, light week coming up.  Good time for it.

Grande made a tweet about it before last night's game.

Defintely lightening up.

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
While LeBron and AD's DNPs are the story tonight, this game marks a big shift in the Celtics schedule..

This is the Celtics' 16th game in the last 27 days.  Going back farther, it's their 24th game in 44 days.

After tonight?

It's 9 games in 28 days.

From 16 in 27, to 9 in 28.

Yeah I saw their schedule in March. Early March they got three different timezones and having to play in the mountains and northwest Pacific.

Then end of March is gonna be brutal with a 6 game road trip, mostly against the eastern conference foes. Lotta away games in March nonetheless.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Celtics going through a slump right now. They haven't looked as dominant as they did pre-January. Their home games after the Nuggets game has been abysmal as if teams are now licking their chops playing at the Garden.

It's like they are reverting back to the old C's of past couple years. Tend to play well on the road but home stand they become carefree. I'll be extra concerned if they lose either Game 1 or 2 at home in the first round.

I don't think we're reverting.  Slumping, sure.  I think January was a brutal month in terms of competition and pace and we just wore down.  Over the last few games, even in the wins against NOP and Indy, I thought we looked like a tired team.  Pace has dropped, slow to long rebounds and loose balls, late on closeouts, not cutting or screening with the same urgency. 

Thankfully, light week coming up.  Good time for it.

Grande made a tweet about it before last night's game.

Defintely lightening up.

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
While LeBron and AD's DNPs are the story tonight, this game marks a big shift in the Celtics schedule..

This is the Celtics' 16th game in the last 27 days.  Going back farther, it's their 24th game in 44 days.

After tonight?

It's 9 games in 28 days.

From 16 in 27, to 9 in 28.

Good. So there shouldn't be any excuses at that point.

[LaBran Jaymes]

Taking the Lakers and the points was easy money. That spread was way too big against a rival. Although the Celtics losing did surprise me.

[SparzWizard]

Taking the Lakers and the points was easy money. That spread was way too big against a rival. Although the Celtics losing did surprise me.

Smart money went to the Lakers last night. I thought the C's would win but not cover. I think it jumped to 14.5 points after LBJ was announced out. They literally got blown out at their own turf with a full healthy team.

[Phantom255x]

I want to be clear, it was a terrible loss and even worse given the circumstances. Lot of guys sucked.

But if you're going from "they are winning the Finals" to "they aren't anymore" because of one single regular season game, then I'm sorry I just can't take you seriously. It's the middle of the season and close to the All-Star break. Even the great teams in history have a game or two like this during the season and sometimes sleepwalk a few games. The C's have still mostly taken care of business and have the best record in the NBA and a 5-game lead for the 1 seed in the East.

Obviously if they have another bad week with a few blowout losses mixed in, I'll become concerned. Not now though. Yes, some of the things we've seen the last week are similar to what we've seen in recent years, BUT this is a new team and the playoffs are still a few months away. The playoffs are where this team will truly be judged but even if we had won yesterday, we'd say the same thing.

If you suddenly think they aren't a Finals-caliber team just because of one single week, then you never really believed in them to begin with. They are on pace for 60+ wins. 60 wins still means 22 losses during the regular season, and guys sit out some games too. They won't be perfect every game. The 2008 team finished 66-16, which again, that's 16 losses they had and I remember a few of them being  ugly too.

[angryguy77]

I want to be clear, it was a terrible loss and even worse given the circumstances. Lot of guys sucked.

But if you're going from "they are winning the Finals" to "they aren't anymore" because of one single regular season game, then I'm sorry I just can't take you seriously. It's the middle of the season and close to the All-Star break. Even the great teams in history have a game or two like this during the season and sometimes sleepwalk a few games. The C's have still mostly taken care of business and have the best record in the NBA and a 5-game lead for the 1 seed in the East.

Obviously if they have another bad week with a few blowout losses mixed in, I'll become concerned. Not now though. Yes, some of the things we've seen the last week are similar to what we've seen in recent years, BUT this is a new team and the playoffs are still a few months away. The playoffs are where this team will truly be judged but even if we had won yesterday, we'd say the same thing.

If you suddenly think they aren't a Finals-caliber team just because of one single week, then you never really believed in them to begin with. They are on pace for 60+ wins. 60 wins still means 22 losses during the regular season, and guys sit out some games too. They won't be perfect every game. The 2008 team finished 66-16, which again, that's 16 losses they had and I remember a few of them being  ugly too.

They had the "other bad week" already. Losing to Milwaukee, clips, Denver and now the Lakers is rightfully causing reason to doubt.

Idk how anyone cannot feel like they've seen this movie before.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I want to be clear, it was a terrible loss and even worse given the circumstances. Lot of guys sucked.

But if you're going from "they are winning the Finals" to "they aren't anymore" because of one single regular season game, then I'm sorry I just can't take you seriously. It's the middle of the season and close to the All-Star break. Even the great teams in history have a game or two like this during the season and sometimes sleepwalk a few games. The C's have still mostly taken care of business and have the best record in the NBA and a 5-game lead for the 1 seed in the East.

Obviously if they have another bad week with a few blowout losses mixed in, I'll become concerned. Not now though. Yes, some of the things we've seen the last week are similar to what we've seen in recent years, BUT this is a new team and the playoffs are still a few months away. The playoffs are where this team will truly be judged but even if we had won yesterday, we'd say the same thing.

If you suddenly think they aren't a Finals-caliber team just because of one single week, then you never really believed in them to begin with. They are on pace for 60+ wins. 60 wins still means 22 losses during the regular season, and guys sit out some games too. They won't be perfect every game. The 2008 team finished 66-16, which again, that's 16 losses they had and I remember a few of them being  ugly too.

The biggest problem with this game, I think, is that it was the Lakers. That made it worse.

[kraidstar]

I want to be clear, it was a terrible loss and even worse given the circumstances. Lot of guys sucked.

But if you're going from "they are winning the Finals" to "they aren't anymore" because of one single regular season game, then I'm sorry I just can't take you seriously. It's the middle of the season and close to the All-Star break. Even the great teams in history have a game or two like this during the season and sometimes sleepwalk a few games. The C's have still mostly taken care of business and have the best record in the NBA and a 5-game lead for the 1 seed in the East.

Obviously if they have another bad week with a few blowout losses mixed in, I'll become concerned. Not now though. Yes, some of the things we've seen the last week are similar to what we've seen in recent years, BUT this is a new team and the playoffs are still a few months away. The playoffs are where this team will truly be judged but even if we had won yesterday, we'd say the same thing.

If you suddenly think they aren't a Finals-caliber team just because of one single week, then you never really believed in them to begin with. They are on pace for 60+ wins. 60 wins still means 22 losses during the regular season, and guys sit out some games too. They won't be perfect every game. The 2008 team finished 66-16, which again, that's 16 losses they had and I remember a few of them being  ugly too.

I just think these guys aren't winners. They lack that killer instinct that separates the Jordans from the Durants. The Bradys from the Philip Rivers's.

It's hard to win without that gene.

[SparzWizard]

I want to be clear, it was a terrible loss and even worse given the circumstances. Lot of guys sucked.

But if you're going from "they are winning the Finals" to "they aren't anymore" because of one single regular season game, then I'm sorry I just can't take you seriously. It's the middle of the season and close to the All-Star break. Even the great teams in history have a game or two like this during the season and sometimes sleepwalk a few games. The C's have still mostly taken care of business and have the best record in the NBA and a 5-game lead for the 1 seed in the East.

Obviously if they have another bad week with a few blowout losses mixed in, I'll become concerned. Not now though. Yes, some of the things we've seen the last week are similar to what we've seen in recent years, BUT this is a new team and the playoffs are still a few months away. The playoffs are where this team will truly be judged but even if we had won yesterday, we'd say the same thing.

If you suddenly think they aren't a Finals-caliber team just because of one single week, then you never really believed in them to begin with. They are on pace for 60+ wins. 60 wins still means 22 losses during the regular season, and guys sit out some games too. They won't be perfect every game. The 2008 team finished 66-16, which again, that's 16 losses they had and I remember a few of them being  ugly too.

I just think these guys aren't winners. They lack that killer instinct that separates the Jordans from the Durants. The Bradys from the Philip Rivers's.

It's hard to win without that gene.

Yup they look like Phillip Rivers and Dak Prescotts out there. Play big in the regular season, but when the stage is at its highest, they don't have what it takes.

It like what KG said a few weeks ago. Players are soft nowadays. They go all buddy-buddy with opposing foes on and off the court. In KG's days, he don't even shake no one hands at the end of games. He imposes fear to opposing teams.

9+ whatever turnovers in the first quarter? That is ridiculous.