6 hours Ago
LOS ANGELES — After enduring an overtime game against the Clippers on Wednesday night, the Celtics appeared hobbled in their locker room. Jaylen Brown winced as he limped toward the showers. Derrick White did the same.
Even while happy to escape the Intuit Dome with a win, and thrilled for surprise hero Jaden Springer, the Celtics wore the price of success on their bodies. Advertisement One night later, Boston players all but shrugged their shoulders after falling to the Lakers 117-96 on the second leg of a back-to-back. Kristaps Porziņģis, who has been critical of the Celtics after their worst games recently, sounded ready to dump the latest poor result into the nearest trash can and forget about it for good.
“I think we’re starting to play better,” Porziņģis said, “but we just didn’t have a good night tonight. We had a back-to-back. That has to go into the equation, so that’s honestly what it is a little bit.
But to be honest I feel like we are starting to play better and I think we’ll be fine.” Brown, who said he has been dealing with ankle issues since a recent loss to Atlanta, likewise pointed to the schedule while explaining his team’s rough outing. He called it “tough” that the Celtics needed to play a rivalry game on no rest.
Ideally, he said Boston would not have needed to play such a spotlight game on the second leg of a back-to-back coming off an overtime game. “You can give them credit, but I just think we came out flat,” Brown said. “We just kind of looked tired.
Maybe you could say just the game from last night going into overtime carried over, but on both sides of the floor, they just had more energy than us. And we tried to like ramp it up in the third quarter. It just wasn’t there tonight.
” The Celtics did try to ratchet up their intensity after halftime. Porziņģis swatted Anthony Davis on a drive. White batted away an Austin Reaves attempt from behind.
Jrue Holiday worked hard to hold up in the post against Davis and LeBron James. Boston quickly cut its deficit to 12 points, but the comeback attempt stalled there when Boston went scoreless for more than four minutes. Jayson Tatum and Brown each missing a pair of free throws during the stretch didn’t help.
Teamwork makes the dream work 😤 pic.twitter.com/wnUeb8nMrN — Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 24, 2025 “They had a really good first half and they were really, really efficient, and we didn’t have our best game, to put it in simple words,” Porziņģis said.
“We played a little bit low energy maybe in the first half. The second half I felt like we came out better, but they already had a good lead. There was one good moment we had.
I think we were making it back and could have made it to (single digits), we missed the free throws and again they made a little run and it kind of slipped out of our hands. So it was not a good night for us; it was a good night for them.” Advertisement The Celtics only shot 38.
5 percent from the field, including 34.1 percent on 3-point attempts, against the 23rd-ranked defense. Joe Mazzulla emphasized how they were also burned by the Lakers offense in transition and on the glass.
Boston ran into much of its trouble during the first half while falling into a 67-48 halftime deficit. Al Horford, clearly angry about his team’s defensive execution in the second quarter, barked at his teammates after one Dalton Knecht dunk. The Lakers, who entered the game ranked 28th in 3-pointers made per game, almost reached their average in the first half while going 11 for 20 from behind the arc.
Gabe Vincent, who had hit three or more 3-pointers in a game just twice all season, drained a trio of them before halftime. Knecht, who had scored 22 points over the previous five games, finished with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting. If the Celtics had played consistent basketball recently, such a dud would have been easy to ignore.
But they have only won consecutive games once since Jan. 3. Even while beating the Clippers on Wednesday, they needed Springer, a rarely-used backup guard, to flip the game late in the third quarter.
Without his defensive spark and clutch shots, Boston might have lost to a Clippers squad missing most of its rotation, including Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Norm Powell and Ivica Zubac. Even after pulling out that game, the Celtics dropped to 10-9 since Dec. 19 with the loss to the Lakers.
Mazzulla’s team has been working through some issues lately. Despite the lopsided defeat Thursday, Porziņģis believes the Celtics have already begun to pull themselves out of their recent struggles. “I just feel it,” Porziņģis said.
“I feel how we are. I’m getting into my rhythm and we’re finding a rhythm as a team. There’s nights like this that of course happen.
It happened last year. It’s happening this year a little bit more, but I don’t think we’re too far off of where we need to be. We just need to keep our head down, keep working and I believe we’ll peak at the right moment.
” Advertisement Porziņģis, Holiday and Horford didn’t suit up against the Clippers on Wednesday, but Tatum (43 minutes), White (42 minutes) and Brown (39 minutes) each handled a heavier minutes load than usual in the overtime affair. After that game, Brown said he added to recent injury issues while rolling his ankle in the second quarter. He said the problem still bothered him against the Lakers.
“I’m still trying to get my burst and my explosion back,” Brown said. “I didn’t finish a lot of baskets around the rim, just because it’s messing with me a little bit. But it will get there.
” Brown said he initially rolled the ankle during a Jan. 18 loss to Atlanta. “And then I’ve been just a little bit banged up, but pushing through,” Brown said.
“Tonight wasn’t a great showing for our team energy-wise. I missed a lot of baskets around the rim and my team needs me to make those. So I need to be able to produce for my team.
” The Celtics weren’t at their best Thursday. They just didn’t seem to think the loss was an indicator that their recent woes will continue. “I’m not concerned, but it’s a part of just navigating the year,” Brown said.
“Anything can happen. We just need to finish through the All-Star break strong and then get ready to gear up going in towards the playoffs and just continue to stay with it, stay with it, stay the course, stay the course, because I feel like we’re still the best team out there. We’ve just gotta put it all together.
” (Photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images).
