The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back nicely from the Clippers loss on Friday by beating the visiting Celtics 102 – 117.
LeBron James and Russell Westbrook were pivotal on Tuesday night at Staples Center, when the team had to welcome the Boston Celtics. While Boston remains inconsistent in their performances, the Lakers couldn’t boast much better track record and the victory delivered right after losing the close game against rivals Clippers, was much needed for team and fan morale.
The game began in high octane with the Lakers and Celtics trading baskets throughout the entire first quarter. The Celtics were slightly luckier and finished the quarter with a two point lead, but the overall score of 33 – 31 was nothing worrying the Lakers at this point. And they proved their point at the start of the second, when thanks to LeBron and Westbrook, LA put their foot down and outscored the Celtics to go to the locker rooms with 5 point advantage.
The half time break invigorated the Lakers, who came out looking to put the game to bed. And so they did, by adding 9 points to their lead in the third quarter. The final 15 minutes of the game would’ve always been nerve-racking as the Celtics have been known to come from behind this season, but the LA defense was plenty strong. And even though Boston won the quarter by a point, it was no where nearly enough to make a difference in the game.
LeBron James was once again the Lakers star we remembered, showing that the setback of injuries and health protocol isolation did not affect his performance when he steps on the court. James was instrumental to the victory on Tuesday night, scoring 30 points, with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Russell Westbrook was no slouch either, finishing the game with a double-double 24 points and 11 assists. Anthony Davis also clocked in a good shift with a double-double 17 points and 16 rebounds, and ‘Melo scoring 9 with 8 rebounds in 21 minutes of play. We even saw Dwight Howard for 13 minutes, who was objectively strong under the net, going for 8 rebounds and scoring 4 points.
Overall an excellent performance by Los Angeles, who failed to deal with Boston’s Jayson Tatum, allowing the Celtics forward 34 points, but kept the rest of the team pretty much shut down. The Lakers will be traveling to face the Grizzlies next, that game starting at 8:00pm EST on Thursday.
