Los Angeles – After a first quarter in which the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics were tied at 28 each, the Lakers could not keep pace with their historic rival and were outscored 83–61 the rest of the game and lost 111–89. According to Lou Murray of The Athletic, the 89 points were the second-lowest total this season for a Lakers team that has been explosive offensively, and Luka Doncic admitted it was not normal.
"I thought they were playing physical. They were playing great defense," Doncic said during his postgame press conference. "We need a better offense. We scored 89 points. That's not like us so we have to be better."
Coming into the game against the Celtics, the Lakers were 12th in the NBA in points per game with 116.2 points. They were 10th in offensive rating at 117.6. The Celtics, on the other hand, came in second in the league in opponent points per game with 108.4 and eighth in defensive rating with 113.5.
The Celtics' swarming defense was certainly on display, especially their use of deep drops and strong perimeter ball pressure.
"You just have to match the physicality ... especially on the defensive end," Doncic said. “You have to match the physicality.”
Doncic finished the game with 25 points in 33 minutes while shooting 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from the 3-point line. He also added five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
The Lakers' offensive struggles were also highlighted by head coach JJ Redick, who felt the team generally played good enough defense to win games. This was a reversal of the team's norm this season in which they have generally scored a lot of points, but struggled to stop opposing attacks.
"We did a good job limiting their fast break points, did a good job limiting their points in the paint. We played great defensively," Redick said. “We were very aggressive tonight.”
For Redick, one of the key areas the Lakers struggled offensively was making shots at the rim and putting more pressure on the Celtics' defense.
“I think there were opportunities to put more pressure on the rim, especially in the first half,” Redick said. "We took 11 non-paint twos. We were 13 of 29 on paint twos, non-rim paint twos. That's not normally how we shoot. And then we got some good looks from three, we didn't knock them down. You've got to make shots in this league."
Redick added, "I think a lot of times when teams are on more downs than all of our guys playing pick and roll, it puts you in a bind of not having obvious options to pass." “We’ve got to do a better job of finding guys and moving the ball.”
Before the game, the Lakers honored legendary coach Pat Riley, who battled against the Celtics in his day, by erecting a statue outside the team's arena.
