Few Things In Life Bring More Joy Than Watching The Celtics Obliterate The Lakers

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

It doesn't matter when during the season the game happens or what year it takes place. It doesn't matter what either team looks like at those moments when they finally face off. 

There's a reason Celtics/Lakers is the best rivalry in sports, and if there's one thing both sides of this rivalry will agree on it's that these games simply mean more. To the rest of the world it's just another random regular season game, 1 of 82. To us? It's everything. Always has been, always will be. You may think you understand that, but unless you're a part of this thing, you really can't. It's just.....different.

With the New Look Lakers being the new darlings of the NBA to the point where you couldn't go a single day without having to hear someone Heather Brooke the shit out of LeBron/Luka and how the Lakers were some sort of savior to all of basketball. 

Fuck that.

Congratulations, you won a few games in a row. Very impressive! But if you want to talk about being at the top of the NBA mountain, let's see how you stack up against the team currently at the top. The one  who doesn't have to try and claim titles from other cities all so you can make it look like you have more than you actually do. 

What we saw is pretty much exactly what any Celtics fan could have told you would happen in this matchup. In my opinion, the previous version of the Lakers was a much tougher challenge. What AD did defensively was much more of an issue than whatever Luka is doing offensively. Other teams may struggle with that, but not the Champs. In fact, it's exactly how they won their ring. 

Now a lot of what you'll hear from coping Lakers fans is that Luka was injured and they weren't healthy. Fortunately we already dealt with this level of cope from Mavs fans last June, so this time around it's much funnier and way more pathetic. It's true, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes didn't play. The Celtics also didn't have Porzingis. Whether Lakers fans are ready to accept their new reality or not, the Celtics are now a bad matchup for them. The same way the new look Lakers cause matchup problems for other teams in the West, the same is now true when you compare them to the Champs. 

Any team that employs Luka Doncic faces this problem. That's just the reality of the situation.

In what was easily one of the more entertaining nights of the season, it doesn't get much better than kicking the shit out of the Lakers. Pick whatever version of them you want, they all got the belt.

The Good

- You know, everything on paper should tell you where we were going to begin this blog, but my heart cannot be denied. As they say, the heart wants what the heart wants and I need to gush about the play of Al Horford. 

I am speechless. I am without speech.

What the hell did we just witness, and why was it one of the most impressive defensive performances of the 21st century? Even all these hours later I'm still having trouble processing what the hell Al Horford did in this win. JJ Redick thought he was on to something by creating a switch and having either LeBron or Luka bring Al onto an island to attack. What he failed to realize is that Al Horford is an NBA Champion. He's a Knight. You don't expose Al Horford, he exposes you for being a moron by trying to attack him offensively. 

Possession after possession, whether it was LeBron or Luka, it didn't matter. Al had them both in hell, at 38 years old. We love to talk about how impressive it is that LeBron is doing his thing at 40, well how about Al Horford? This is a man that looks like he has at least 5 more years left in those legs. We've talked about how there are a handful of games on the schedule that Horford is going to unload the clip for, and well, this is what that looks like. Offensively, he was efficient (5-9), he was second on the team in rebounds with 9, third on the team in assists with 4, tied for the lead in steals with 3, all while playing incredible isolation defense against some of the best players on the planet, with no help.

Jayson Tatum said it best after the game

Now I don't want to be rude, but Jayson Tatum can get in line. You think you love Al Horford more than me? More than anyone reading this blog? No fucking chance. We will die for Al Horford, without hesitation. 

I don't know how they are going to be able to do it, but everyone has to convince Al to at least give us another 2 year deal. Maybe a 1+1. He simply cannot retire. Look at him! Look at those clips! Look at what he's doing against the best in the world. That is not a guy who is showing signs that it's time to hang em up. In fact, he's looking like a guy that has more than earned a 5 year supermax. I don't even care if he didn't meet the criteria. Al Horford should be eligible for one simply because he's Al Horford.

- There are a lot of factors that go into someone truly becoming a Celtics great. For starters, you need at least 1 championship. That's non-negotiable. You then need a prolonged stretch of dominance, so your career totals match up with some of the greats. 

For me personally, you also need to be awesome against the Los Angeles Lakers. It's sort of like college where your place in this franchise depends on how you do against the biggest rival, and there will never be a bigger rival than LA. 

With that in mind, I am happy to report that Jayson Tatum is well on his way to becoming a Celtics great

In 16 career games against the Lakers, Tatum is now averaging 24.9/7.3/3.9 on 48/44% splits with a 61.8% TS%. He's won 4 of the last 6 meetings against LA (since Joe Mazzulla arrived), averaging 29.7/8.8/5.5. It was very obvious watching this game that a contest which included LeBron and Luka, it was Jayson Tatum who was by far the best player on the court.

There are a few things at play in this matchup.

1. Tatum is a true Celtic. He understands what beating LA means and how important it is

2. He fucking cannot stand Luka and the fact that people think he's a better player

3. He always rises to the occasion against LeBron

When you put all three of those things together, you get a performance like this. Outside of a few turnovers here and there, I thought Tatum played about as close to a perfect game of basketball as humanly possible. His decision making was on point, his shot making was massive, his 3 ball was back, he hit the boards, he moved the ball, it was a statement performance by a player in what many considered a statement game.

Here's the thing, this is just what Jayson Tatum does. It's why his hate is so fucking weird. Once you understand that a lot of it is created out of jealousy by fanbases that have to repeatedly watch Tatum kick their ass, it all starts to make sense.

What did we learn in this game? That this version of the Lakers has no answer on the perimeter/wing for Jayson Tatum. No, it's not Rui Hachimura. As long as Luka is out there, there's a seal to hunt. As long as Reaves is on the floor, he's going to be hunted. The Lakers are just too small on the wing and too fat and slow on the perimeter. Unfortunate for them but oh well. When you don't have a center on the floor, things are going to look even worse. 

I'm not sure how many times the world needs to see Jayson Tatum but the belt to a Luka led team by severely outplaying him until they stop the gimmick that he's the better player, but you can tell Tatum truly enjoys making that point every time they play.

- Then of course, we had the two way monster performance from Jaylen Brown. Another guy who hates Luka Doncic with the fire of a thousand suns. You can really tell they both play in a way that gives you the impression they are truly pissed off people think this Luka guy is a better player. They go at his neck for 48 minutes and he really cannot handle it

If this performance felt familiar, it's because we've seen it before. This was the first time since the Finals that Luka was going up against the team that embarrassed him on the world stage, and it didn't take long for Jaylen Brown to repeat the exact type of two way dominance that had Luka in hell last June

During his Hot Ones episode, Jaylen talked about how he's become an effective on ball defender because he spends time studying and understanding the cadence and rhythm of each player. He talked about how everyone plays to their own pace, and part of locking that up is learning their pace so can anticipate their moves and cause chaos.

That is exactly what he does with Luka. Jaylen has learned his pace, his cadence, his setups, and look at the results. Hell. Then defensively, Luka is still way too slow. It's a horrendous matchup for him and it doesn't matter what jersey he's wearing. The defensive effort from Jaylen on Luka is what set the tone, just like in the Finals. 

Offensively, we should not overlook the massive, massive threes we saw Jaylen make. There was the one from the corner to help swing momentum and get the lead into the 20s, and then there was his shot making in the 4th quarter when the Lakers were making their run. Luka made a massive 3, Jaylen comes right back down and hits an even bigger one from the top of the key. He attacked and finished at the rim at a time when it felt like the Celts hadn't scored in decades. He hit midrange jumpers so keep the Lakers at a distance. All while everyone else on the team couldn't make a shot to save their lives in the 4th.

Let's be honest, without Jaylen's 9 points on 4-7 (1-2) in the 4th, there's a strong chance the Celts drop this game. That would have essentially ended the season if you ask me. 

- What a fantastic masterclass from Joe Mazzulla. Now 4-2 against LA since taking over as the Head Coach, Joe put JJ Redick in a vice of pain with no real solution. What the Celts did in the 3rd quarter when this game broke open was essentially all from the brain of Joe Mazzulla.

What felt like every single possession started the same way. Joe was going to force the Lakers to make a choice by manipulating the spacing. With no rim protection available, the goal was to remove LeBron from the rim and instead have a non-rim protecting threat in the paint. It wasn't a hard thing to create, all it took was a high ball screen for Al/DWhite. LeBron was on Al so he would switch onto White, and Reaves would take Al in the switch, who would immediately roll to the paint.

Once that happened, here's the predicament that the Lakers had no answer for. By creating the mismatch at the rim, it forces LeBron to make a choice. Does he help off White and support Reaves? If he does that, Derrick can bury the 3. If he doesn't, well the ball can find Al. This also gives Derrick an advantage against a slower player, which allows him to attack. If the ball finds it's way to Tatum, he has Luka on an island and the Lakers can't help on that drive or else they give up an open 3.

So what happened?

This is what Joe is talking about when he mentions how important spacing is and how crucial it is that the Celts continue to use spacing to manipulate defenses. Forcing teams to make a decision that has no right answer is the crux of Mazzulla Ball. It's why the Celts are so good. Everything is a lose/lose option for you, it then becomes a question of what you're willing to tolerate.

Whenever a team is going to go small against the Celtics, this is what Joe is going to do. He's going to remove what "rim protector" you have from the equation, and once that happens you're as good as dead, and death comes at you from a variety of angles. Threes, post ups, drives, it's all on the table.

- Fun fact: Luka Doncic is 1-9 in his last 10 games against Boston. 

- For his first game back, once he recovered from his early game CTE I thought Jrue Holiday was great in this win. Didn't do too much, played solid defense, and eventually hit his wide open bunnies to finish 3-6 (1-3). You can tell he definitely is favoring his right hand, I feel like any time he was passed the ball he chose to catch it with his left, so who knows what this Mallet Finger is going to do longterm, but if this is the worst it could look then that's fine by me.

The way Jrue crashed the offensive class (4 OREB) as a weakside rebounder was huge, and it's something that the team was missing while he was out. Payton Pritchard can only do so much by himself, so it was great to see that again. Buying extra possessions is how you break the spirit of your opponent, and few guards buy more extra possessions than Jrue.

- It's always great to see the Celts play with resiliency, and given how this game started, it could have been a disaster before we even knew what the hell happened. The Lakers got out to a hot start, the Celts couldn't make shit, and instead of getting down and playing losing basketball, they fought back. The kept LA close until their own shots started falling, they locked in defensively, and they stayed true to Celtics basketball.

Same thing in the 4th when things got down to 4. What did the Celts do? They didn't feel bad about themselves, they fought back, made enough plays and executed in high leverage situations to get the lead back to 10.

While none of us like these games that have no business being close having close moments, there is something to be said about how the Celts are continuing to execute with the game on the line. We saw it in the DEN win, and we saw it again last night. That matters to me.

- Celts won the points in the paint battle, the 2nd chance points battle, the fastbreak points battle, had more assists, fewer TOs, and a lead as high as 22. They were great around the margins, and when that happens they are tough as hell to beat.

The Bad

- I'm not sure what the hell was going on early, but the Celts inability to finish at the rim lately has been very annoying. This was a 4 point game at the half, largely because nobody on the Celts could make a fucking layup

Remember, this is coming against a team without a center. Jaylen smoked a few early, Jrue smoked some, Payton missed a layup, Tatum missed at the rim, it was all very gross and probably the most consistent contributing factor to the Celts playing close games. People think it's the 3pt shooting and going cold from deep.

No, you are a sheep.

The real issue is whenever the Celts have those "underachieving" type of performances, you can almost always point to being dogshit at the rim/in the paint. Death by 2pt FGA is real at times with this team, which is no surprise that they got back into this game and then took over this game by taking and makings 3s.

- It wouldn't be a National TV game in the NBA without an official making a horrific call, getting that call overturned, but being so emotional about being called out for his braindead decision that he compounds that mistake with a tech.

Given the Celts had to waste two challenges on clear no brainer calls, I'll never understand why the NBA doesn't make it a rule that if you win both challenges, you get a 3rd. You should not be penalized for being right. 

You should also not be allowed to keep a tech if a foul you called is challenged and overturned. That should overturn the tech as well. Again, you're penalizing a player/team for being right, while the guy who is responsible for this whole thing doesn't have to be accountable. Does Adam Silver not see how backwards that is?

- 18-25 from the FT line was thankfully a non-factor but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Serious question, what the hell is going on with Luke Kornet at the FT line? This man was a 90% FT shooter last season, 90%! Now? I'm lucky if he makes 1-2. It's one of the more bizarre parts of Kornet's season which outside of that has been fantastic. But the FT line? That's been a disaster.

The Ugly

- It wouldn't be a Celtics game without a horrendous entry pass turnover showing up at the worst possible time. I'll never, ever, ever understand how this team can be so bad at this simple play. It doesn't matter who it is on the roster, they are all awful at them

- Not to be outdone, the Celts may also be one of the worst fastbreak teams in existence. Normally you'd never want to allow a 3 on 1 fastbreak right? Well, against this team it might be the best defensive strategy you could have.

- Over the last 5 games, the Celts have built at least a 20+ lead in all of them. Pretty good! In those same 5 games, we've also seen that 22+ lead be trimmed down to a 2 possession game. Not so good! Awful in fact!

So while it's true the Celts didn't technically "blow" any of those leads outside of the CLE loss, let's be honest with ourselves. Their inability to maintain a big lead for 5 straight games is a tad concerning. I get it, teams go on runs, which is fine. A 22 point lead getting down to 12-14 is no big deal. But it's that next push into the 4-6 point range that is cause for concern. 

Eventually, a good team is going to make you pay for it, just like the Cavs did. Building the lead is awesome and is why you won those games, but it has to be a 48 minute deal. We cannot be going into 4th quarters up 20, and then it be a 4 point game with 2+ minutes left. That's just asking for trouble and was very annoying to watch unfold last night.

Tatum's 4th was especially tough, a lot of settling, no buckets until his massive 3, they were turning the ball over, not guarding the 3pt line, and doing things that only helped the Lakers gain confidence. 

The point is, if something like this happened once or twice, you can dismiss it. This is now 5 straight games. And while the end result was 4-1, it was way more stressful than it had to be.

As I said earlier, beating the Lakers will always feel incredible. Fuck those guys forever. But now that they're in the rearview mirror it's time to prepare for the rematch against the Thunder. There's a trap game against UTA first, so I say rest everyone and be prepared to close out this homestand strong.