The Los Angeles Lakers' duo of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined for 41 points, 31 rebounds and five blocked shots as the Lakers overcame a nine point first half deficit to defeat the Boston Celtics 88-87 in overtime Thursday night. The win ends a two game road losing streak for Los Angeles along with a five game winning streak for Boston. The game was close throughout; as the largest lead of the game was held by Boston at nine in the first quarter, while the Lakers only enjoyed a four point lead in overtime as their largest.
The game began and ended with the Lakers controlling the interior, as Gasol and Bynum manned the paint. When the Celtics appeared to counter the Los Angeles' interior strategy, the Lakers simply turned to Kobe Bryant to take over. For the game, the NBAs fifth all-time leading scorer led both teams with 27 points; while Gasol contributed 25 to pace the Lakers' attack.
The Celtics loss to the Lakers is not only frustrating in losing to a hated foe; but the manner with which Boston relinquished the lead. Early on, Boston found success utilizing the point guard mismatch; as Rajon Rondo ran an up-tempo offense. When the Lakers focused on Rondo, Ray Allen was able to connect from the perimeter and Kevin Garnett was free to get easy baskets in the paint. In the first half, Boston put the ball in Rondo's hands and he ran against the sluggish Lakers' defense on pace for 12 first half fast break points.
As the game wore on, Boston began to shy away from pushing the tempo, looking for interior shots; relying solely on perimeter shooting. For the game, the Celtics had 17 fast break points; but zero in the critical fourth quarter and overtime periods. The Lakers dominated on the interior, collecting 55 rebounds and scoring 24 second chance points as compared to 45 and 13 respectively for Boston.
With the Celtics' scoring opportunities moving further form the basket, their field goal percentage declined steadily throughout the game; as Boston had their first quarter shooting percentage of 48% reduced to 39% for the game. During the final 11:58 on the fourth quarter and overtime, the Boston Celtics connected on only five field goals which eliminated a seven point third quarter lead and resulted in a three point deficit entering the final quarter.
Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were most noticeable with their late game performances which were symptomatic of the Celtics' struggles. Garnett missed on his last nine shots and was 2 for 13 from the field beyond halftime as he drifter further and further form the basket; while Rondo scored just two points and dished out only one assist in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Lakers' guard Kobe Bryant started the game as an offensive facilitator, setting up teammates for scoring opportunities. It was not until the 2:54 mark of the first quarter when Bryant attempted his first field goal attempt. From there Bryant would score the Lakers' final nine points of the quarter to reduce a once nine point lead to just four during that span.
Entering the season, the clear deficiency for the Celtics was a lack of interior toughness; with Jermaine O'Neal listed as the only legitimate center on the roster. That lack of bulk and physical play cane back to haunt Boston on Thursday and will continue to hamper the Celtics against similar style opponents as the Lakers. Fortunately for Boston, there are not many teams with such a size advantage on the interior and the team should be able to put together respectable performances against undersized opponents. But the loss to the Lakers also highlighted an area of concern that has plagued this team for years. For some inexplicable reason Boston changes their offensive philosophy during games; especially in games where a particular style of play was proven successful. Had the Celtics continued to leverage their strong advantage at point guard and create scoring opportunities in the paint, they would have likely emerged victorious. As an aging team, Boston can ill afford to rely solely on talent to pull out close games at the end; especially where Garnett shows more signs of fatigue than energy late in contests.
The advantage Boston has had early in the season will begin to change as the schedule begins to become more difficult for the Eastern Conference hopefuls. After playing 17 of their first 22 games at TD Garden, the Celtics will play six of their next nine games on the road; and will face the Chicago Bulls in one of the home contests this month. From there, the schedule becomes even more daunting with an eight game road trip next month as part of 11 road games out of 17 in March.
For this team to gain team and fan confidence that the season still has a positive long-term outlook, the Celtics will need to establish some interior toughness and maintain offensive pace consistency if they have any hope of ascending the Eastern Conference standings. Time remains for the Boston to regroup from this loss and begin to build on much of the positives that led to a 9-1 stretch in the ten games prior. Fans should remain hopeful that time remains for the Celtics to position themselves for a solid playoff run.
Scott Duhaime is a passionate fan of the Boston Celtics and avid follower of the NBA for over 30 years; witnessing five of Boston's 17 championships. His professional career includes a solid foundation of analytics that contributes to a better appreciation of player and team contributions.
Sources:
Yahoo! Sports Box Score: Los Angeles Lakers 88 @ Boston Celtics 87 (overtime)
Yahoo! Sports Boston Celtics Roster, Schedule, and Player Statistics
Yahoo! Sports Boston Celtics Roster, Schedule, and Player Statistics
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