Lakers (27-27) at Celtics (35-19) Game #55 2/7/19

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Los Angeles Lakers (27-27) at Boston Celtics (35-19)
Thursday, February 7, 2019
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]55, Home Game [HASH]29
TV: TNT, SpecSN
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 710 AM ESPN
TD Garden



Probable Starters
Point Guard: Kyrie Irving ---------------- Shooting Guard: Marcus Smart


Center: Al Horford


Small Forward: Jason Tatum ------------------ Power Forward: Marcus Morris


Celtics Reserves
Daniel Theis
Jaylen Brown
Guerschon Yabusele
Semi Ojeleye
Brad Wanamaker
Aron Baynes
Gordon Hayward

Injuries
Jabari Bird (personal) out
Aron Baynes (foot) out
Robert Williams (back) questionable

Two Way Players
P. J. Dozier
RJ Hunter

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Probable Starters
Point Guard: Rajon Rondo -------------------- Shooting Guard: Brandon Ingram


Center: Ivica Zubac


Small Forward: LeBron James -------------------- Power Forward: Kyle Kuzma


Lakers Reserves
Michael Beasley
Kentavious Caldwell Pope
Tyson Chandler
JaVale McGee
Lance Stephenson
Moritz Wagner

Injuries
LeBron James (game managment) probable
Kyle Kuzma (hip) probable
Ivica Zubac (finger) probable
Lonzo Ball (ankle) out
Isaac Bonga (GLeague) out
Reggie Bullock (NWT) out
Josh Hart (knee) questionable

Two Way Players
Alex Caruso
Jonathan Williams

Head Coach
Luke Walton

Game Notes
The greatest NBA rivalry begins a new chapter on Thursday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Celtics. This will be LeBron James first time at the Garden as a member of the Lakers. This is the first of 2 meetings this season. They will meet again on 3/9/19 in Los Angeles.

This week has been tough for both of these teams with non stop trade rumors going on. As I write this, there are about `8 hours until the trade deadline. Thankfully they will play 5 hours after the trade deadline so both teams should be able to once again concentrate on basketball and not on whether they will still be on the team tomorrow. These teams may remain the same after the deadline but chances are there will be a few changes.

The trade rumors seem to have hit the Lakers a bit harder than they did the Celtics, who have won their last 5 games. The Lakers have lost 2 and on Tuesday, they lost by 42 to the Indiana Pacers, which is LeBrons worst loss in his career. The Pacers fans made it worse by chanting "LeBron's going to trade you" when Brandon Ingram was at the line and "not worth trading" when JaVale McGee was at the line.

They split the series 1-1 last season, with each team winning on their home court. This is the 3rd game of a 5 game road trip for the Lakers. They have a 27-27 record, but they are 21-15 when LeBron plays. LeBron has faced the Celtics 90 times in his 17 year career and the Celtics are a personal rival to him as well as a rival to the Lakers as a team.

The Celtics are still in 3rd place, 3.5 games behind 2nd place Toronto. They are tied with 4th place Indiana and 1 game ahead of Philadelphia, who just got better with their recent trade. The Celtics are 22-6 at home and 9-1 in their last 10 games. They are 10-9 vs the Western conference teams.

The Lakers are in 10th place in the West. They are 2.5 games out of playoff position and 1.5 games ahead of 11th place Minnesota. They are 11-15 on the road and 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are 8-9 against Eastern conference teams.

LeBron James (groin), Kyle Kuzma (hip) and Ivica Zubac (finger) are all listed as probable for the Lakers. Lonzo Ball (ankle), Isaac Bonga (GLeague), and Reggie Bullock (NWT) are all listed as out. Josh Hart (knee) is questionable. Kyrie Irving (hip) and Marcus Morris (knee) will be back in the starting lineup for the Celtics. Aron Baynes (foot) remains out. Robert Williams (back) is questionable).

Key Matchups
vs
Jason Tatum vs LeBron James
Tatum has a lot of experience covering James, including last year's Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron is averaging 26.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 7.3 assists. As always, LeBron is next to impossible to contain but if Tatum can at least slow him down, that would be a good thing.

vs
Marcus Morris vs Kyle Kuzma
Kuzma has outshined the Lakers' top pick from last year's draft, averaging 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Morris has been playing very well and hopefully will be able to limit Kuzma in this game.

Honorable Mention
Marcus Smart vs Brandon Ingram
Ingram is averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Marcus Smart will need to play his typical stingy defense to slow him down and hopefully his offense will continue to be strong.

Kyrie Irving vs Rajon Rondo
Former Celtic Rajon Rondo will be returning to the Garden for the first time as a member of the Lakers. He is averaging 8.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists. Rondo loves playing former teams and will likely play harder than normal. He also loves national TV games and so Kyrie will need to play him closely.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense wins games. The Celtics are third in the league with a defensive rating of 104.9. The Lakers aren't terrible defensively as they are 9th with a defensive rating of 107.6. The Celtics need to continue to play tough lock down defense and not allow the Lakers to gain any confidence.

Rebound - Rebounding takes effort and energy and the Celtics will need both to out-rebound the Lakers. They need to crash the boards and keep the Lakers from getting second chance points and fast breaks. The Celtics are averaging 45.1rebounds per game while the Lakers are averaging 47.2 rebounds per game. The Lakers are 2nd in points in the paint with 56.4 per game. The Celtics have to crash the boards to limit their put backs and second chance baskets.

Focus - There will be rumors and hoopla surrounding the trade deadline and it's possible that both teams will have to deal with a trade of a loved teammate. The Celtics must put all that behind them and focus on playing their game. The trade rumors seem to be affecting the Lakers more than the Celtics so far, and hopefully that continues in this game as well.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense. They have to aggressively crash the boards. They have to be the team that wants it more. They can't afford to let the Lakers be the team that plays harder.

Take Care of the Ball - The Celtics need to share the ball and make the extra pass to find the best shot possible, But, they also must take care of the ball because the Lakers are 2nd in fast break points with 21.5 per game. If the Celtics get sloppy and turn the ball over, the Lakers will certainly make them pay.

X-Factors
Home Court - The Celtics are home with the Garden crowd behind them. They should get a lift from the crowd and from playing on the familiar parquet floor. Hopefully the Garden faithful will be loud and rattle the young Lakers a bit.

Celtic Pride - "Beat LA" is one of the most iconic chants in sports. This is a storied rivalry and no matter the circumstances, the Celtics always want to beat the Lakers. It's a matter of pride and the Celtics need to get the job done and "Beat LA" in this game.

[jmost]

Yes, we always want to beat L.A., and every game counts, but today the main way I want to bear L.A. is having them not work a trade for Anthony Davis.

[DERRENMATTS]

Utterly pathetic quarter and a half, starting from the ending of the 2nd and all the way trhough the 3rd. After building a whopping 18 pt lead, we’ve completely lost the desire to win this game and now find ourselves down 6 heading into the 4th.

We are championship material if we can win this ugly game by 20, destroying the Lakers.

[mev17]

What absolute garbage. 72 points given up in the second half and losing on an offensive rebound, absolutely pathetic loss against a mediocre team at home. I don't care how well they had been playing lately, they should be utterly ashamed of themselves!

[afceltic]

This loss is 100000000% on Kyrie. He kept them in the game shooting 3-18 until the last 4 minutes of the game.

He better have one hell of a playoff run or I am fine with letting this diva go because he isn't worth a max contact if he doesn't.

[jmost]

Looking at the box score, this one was on the starters. The bench played great. It's a shame to waste what was IMO the best game of Theis's Celtic career, and a damn good game by TR.

James kept them in the game and then they got a lucky bounce at the end.

[runrondo]

This hurts because it would've been nice to keep the winning streak going to see if we can vault ourselves to a solid position in the standings. I'm not thinking we'll catch the Bucks, but it'd be nice to be 2nd somehow. Seems home court will probably be important for us considering our mediocre record on the road and our troubles last playoffs.

[eddietours]

how may times did we give the game away ?

[mev17]

What bothers me so much about last night was the lack of effort and energy. Even Stevens, who is not exactly a hard noses, rip your team coach, called them out for being passive on offense and defense and not deserving to win.

How in the world does a team not bring any fight to a rivalry game? Obviously, the game does not mean as much to these players as it does to the fans. If you are going to be lax at home vs the Lakers, then when in the world can the fans ever trust you to play hard and defend?

It's like this team does not want to play hard for four quarters - they do just enough to think they will win then coast from there.

[Roadrunner]

Bad loss. I was watching the game on espn.com/gamecast. Play - Horford blocks Ingram, I raise my hands and say "yes!". Next play - Rondo made 20-footer, I am like "what just happened?" Kyrie has shot out BOS a few times this year, and 6-20 was it. Theis, 9-11, had a career game.