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Lakers unable to make good on Pat Riley’s message, fall to rival Celtics
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- Lakers unable to make good on Pat Riley’s message, fall to rival Celtics
In the midst of having his statue outside of Crypto.com Arena unveiled, former Lakers coach and NBA legend Pat Riley , still feeling the professional competitiveness against the Celtics , had a simple message.
"The time has come to kick some ass," Riley said. "To kick some Boston ass."
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The message was delivered but not made good on, with the Lakers falling to their longtime rivals 111-89 after being stifled by Boston's defense the entire game.
"We did enough defensively," Lakers coach JJ Redick said. "We were just awful offensively."
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown drives to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Lakers were held to 22 or fewer points in each of the final three quarters, including 18 in the fourth, and shot 39.1% from the field (34 of 87) for their second-worst shooting percentage in a game this season.
Their scoring total marked just the second time they were held to fewer than 90 points.
"There were opportunities to put more pressure on the rim, particularly in the first half: We took 11 non-paint 2s," Redick said. "Got some good looks (on 3-pointers), we didn't knock them down.
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"A lot of times when teams are on a deeper drop versus all our guys that play pick and roll, it kind of puts you a little bit in a bind of not having the obvious choice to pass, if that makes sense? So we just got to do a better job of just finding guys and moving the ball."
Luka Doncic finished with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists. LeBron James added 20 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Austin Reaves recorded 15 points and seven rebounds.
But each part of the Lakers' Big 3 struggled to get the Lakers' offense going.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against the Boston Celtics. NBAE via Getty Images
What it means
The Lakers lost the regular-season series to the Celtics, 0-2, for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
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The Celtics also beat the Lakers on Dec. 5 in Boston, with the Lakers not having Dončić or James available for the matchup.
The Lakers fell to 34-22 on the season with Sunday's loss.
Turning point
When Marcus Smart missed a 3-point attempt at the 9:32 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Lakers opened the fourth on a 6-2 run, cutting the 13-point deficit they entered the quarter with to nine after back-to-back close-range shots from James and Rui Hachimura with momentum on their side.
But that momentum quickly went away, with the Celtics going on a 6-0 run (back-to-back midrange shots and a pair of free throws from Payton Pritchard ) to take a game-best 15-point lead, 92-77, with just over eight minutes left.
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The Lakers trailed by at least double digits for the rest of the game.
Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard looking at Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia AP
MVP: Payton Pritchard
Pritchard led the Celtics during the aforementioned stretch that helped seal the victory.
He finished with 30 points, eight assists and four rebounds off the bench.
"He played a great game," Redick said.
Stat of the game: 15.4%
That was the Lakers' 3-point percentage in the second half until Redick pulled his main rotation players with 3:22 left after Pritchard's 3 put the Celtics up 105-83.
The Lakers made 2 of 13 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in the first 20 ½ minutes of the second half.
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The Celtics didn't have the hot hand, either, but made three times as many 3s in the same stretch.
The Lakers shot 46.7% on their 3s (7 of 15) in the opening two quarters.
Up next
The Lakers will close their extended homestand, which started with a win over the 76ers on Feb. 5, when they host the Magic on Tuesday.
They'll play against the Suns in Phoenix on Thursday and the Warriors in San Francisco on Saturday.
