Lakers (36-11) at Celtics (29-15) 1/31

[CelticSooner]

This team is done. Let the snowball continue down the hill.

Really?  The Celts lost on a last-possession shot against a team that many consider the best in the NBA, and we're done?

Yes. The nail in the coffin. The Celtics were the best team in the NBA in the first half and a middle of the pack team coming out of the locker room. Championship teams don't continue to blow games like the C's have done this season.

[Roy Hobbs]

And how many times does the Pierce iso or Pierce pick and roll have to fail before we go away from it. What is that quote: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results = insanity"?

I'm with you.  No matter how good our offense is looking, we go to an iso offense down the stretch.  It's ridiculous.

[Scribbles]

People need to not put the blame at Pierce for losing this game.  It was the right call, but Kobe pushes off the same way on 95% of the time and never gets called for it.  Also we never should have blown the lead and shouldn't have had it come down to that.  

I also want to know where the heck Tony Allen was in the 2nd half.  He kept us in the game in the first half and played great D on Kobe, and then Doc barley uses him the rest of the game.  

[JohnBagleyValueMeal]

This team is done. Let the snowball continue down the hill.

Really?  The Celts lost on a last-possession shot against a team that many consider the best in the NBA, and we're done?

Seriously.  We just saw the Celtics play a great game. It sucks that they lost.  They could have and should have played better.  But people were around here saying we were the 8th or 9th best team in the league, and we just showed that there isn't much between the teams.

[Drucci]

Yeah we've seen in this game once again that we are really contenders but man, I wanted this one badly.

Now people will talk about Kobe being clutch while the guy missed his last 9 shots in the 4th, hogged the ball. Sure he made the last shot (game winning), kudos to him, but when you need 10 attempts to make one shot don't say he is the clutchest player in the league.

Frustrated... Ray, I was sure that shot was going in.

Can't understand why the Celtics go away from what makes their success in the last minutes, it's mind-boggling.

[Tenacious D]

Hear you, Hobbs. Feeling it.

Question--why did Doc go away from Tony A. He was having a great game. Coach went back to his usual patterns and it went down the drain. And Ive about had it with the papoose.

[celticinorlando]

The team and coaching staff is going to learn from this.

I hate to say it but this was an encouraging loss.  Celtics played extremely well for a large duration of this game and illustrated that they can still play with the best.  The loss is tough to take but the Celtics still managed to take a step in the right direction.

meh....that is what we heard after the orlando loss...they will learn from blowing a big lead in the  4th quarter...did the same thing today...

[CoachBo]

Let's not whine about the Pierce foul. It was a good call. This game was lost by hideous offensive execution down the stretch in the fourth quarter. It was there to be won - easily - and we let the Lakers back, as we do night in and night out to quality opponents.

The last play was atrocious, but predictable since we were unable to get into a good offensive set in the last half of the fourth quarter.

Three and a half great quarters from Rondo. The last half of the fourth quarter, spent pounding the basketball, is again absolutely unacceptably passive basketball from him. Move the ball, and get your teammates serious about moving away from it.

TA played well - surprisingly well. No arguments about that.

[Roy Hobbs]

This team is done. Let the snowball continue down the hill.

Really?  The Celts lost on a last-possession shot against a team that many consider the best in the NBA, and we're done?

Roy, "done" is a relative term. We don't really win games anymore, so it makes it hard to think we are anything other than "done" when it comes to winning the title. Sure, we have a chance (think dumb-and-dumber), but that chance has to look remote at this point.

KG is getting his legs back and Ray is struggling on offense, BBD was non-existent, and Daniels is out with an injury.  We played a stretch of 3 games in 4 nights against 3 of the top 5 teams in the NBA.  Yes, we couldn't close those games out, but we were competitive in all of them.

[CelticSooner]

The team and coaching staff is going to learn from this.

I hate to say it but this was an encouraging loss.  Celtics played extremely well for a large duration of this game and illustrated that they can still play with the best.  The loss is tough to take but the Celtics still managed to take a step in the right direction.

How will they learn from it? You make it sound like the C's are an upcoming team. They were picked to win the East for god's sake! It's one thing to play inspired ball it's another to continually lose games you have no business losing.

[MaxwellSmart86]

and you knew those missed free throws by Perk were gonna be the difference....2-5

[GreenFaith1819]

Well...disappointed, but encouraged at the same time...these ones hurt more than others, but I can honestly say that Boston could've won this one.

If the Lakers are the best team, then we are certainly right there with them, based off of this game.

[Larry for 3]

at some point "you are what you are", and these guys arent the 86 celtics, able to fick that switch at a moments notice and win 10 straight.  we're not at that point yet, but things are going in that direction. I;m a celtics fan, I don't do moral victories, moral victories are for the Atlanta hawks

[mahonedog88]

Hurt more than a regular season loss should. I was sure that Ray shot was going down.

And the Lakers are the best team in the NBA, were clearly "up" for the game and it came down to the last possession.

We are still contenders.

We're still contenders, but we all have to admit that it just feels different.  We aren't overpowering anymore.  We don't have that edge anymore.  2 years ago we said "ok, we can definately win the championship."  Even last year, we were saying "Ok, if we have KG, I think its safe to say we probably make it back to the finals and maybe even win it all again."

There's none of that this year.  Even with a full team now, I don't hear many people saying "we totally have a legit shot" and honestly, its rightfully so.  Cause the way I see it, we don't.  Not now.  And we even have less of a shot if we play Atlanta in the postseason.

[Tenacious D]

I also want to know where the heck Tony Allen was in the 2nd half.  He kept us in the game in the first half and played great D on Kobe, and then Doc barley uses him the rest of the game.  

Indeed. Doc goes back to his pattens= ie recipe for failure