This was not the Celtics night.
Right from the tip, the Lakers looked enthused and energized, as opposed to the lethargic Celtics.
They annihilated the Celtics (28-26) tonight, 113-99, in a game that was never close.
Los Angeles dominated Boston in nearly every facet of the game. Rebounding, points, energy, everything. Throw in the fact that tonight was the first game the Lakers played since the death of their owner, Jerry Buss, and it added up to a recipe for a Laker masterpiece.
Here's a recap:
The good:
* Paul Pierce showed up tonight...for the first half. He scored 23 first-half points, the most in a single half for him all season. The problem was he scored 3 points the rest of the way. Nonetheless, Pierce singlehandedly kept Boston in the game in the first half. He finished with 26 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists on 9-of-17 from the floor.
* For the second consecutive night, Courtney Lee played a solid game. Lee finished with 20 points on 9-of-16 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
The bad:
* Uh, everything?
* Boston got killed, and I mean KILLED, in the paint. Dwight Howard and the rest of the Laker bigs looked like men among boys. Grabbing rebounds was like taking candy from a baby. They outrebounded the Celtics, 49-34. Just to show how dominant the Lakers were on the glass, the Celtics' starting five combined for 18 rebounds. Earl Clark had 16. The Lakers also doubled up the Celtics on the offensive glass, 14-7. Needless to say, the Celtics rebounding problems were exposed tonight.
* The Celtics' pick-and-roll defense was atrocious. The two Steves (Nash and Blake) tore apart the Celtics' perimeter defense. The Celtics got caught up in a lot of switches and weren't able to get back quickly enough. Boston let the Lakers roll to the basket with ease off screens. As a result, the Lakers dominated with points in the paint, 50-34.
* 7 of the 9 Lakers that played tonight scored in double figures. Yikes.
Miscellaneous
* Boston had nothing in the tank tonight, and that was obvious from the start. Early on, Boston was shooting a ton of jumpers while the Lakers tried (and successfully) established their bigs in the post.
* Doc Rivers said after the game that the team's offense was "awful." They scored 99 points, shot 48% from the floor and 45% from three-point land. Funny.
* I can't help but wonder if tonight was the final time we'd see Paul Pierce and/or Kevin Garnett donning Celtic green.
Boston will regroup on Thursday before travelling to Phoenix to take on the Suns on Friday night.
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