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Lakers Win in Kobe’s Last Visit to Boston

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As I wrote in my game preview, games against the Celtics just mean more. We know the Lakers aren’t a good team and that the Celtics are battling for a playoff spot in the newly rejuvenated East, but that just makes the prospect of getting a W that much more enticing. So, to see the Lakers play one of their better games of the year and pull out the victory was sweet.

To see them do it in Kobe’s last visit to Boston was even sweeter.

While the Celtics were able to hold a lead for part of the game, the contest was mostly controlled by the Lakers. They held leads in double digits multiple times in the second half and while the Celtics made a strong push built on ball pressure and good shot making down the stretch, the Lakers were able to hold on.

Key to this was Jordan Clarkson’s ability to hit some tough shots of his own and Kobe’s dagger three with less than 2 minutes left which stymied the C’s momentum by pushing the lead back to 5. Kobe had a rough shooting night, but in some ways his night reminded me of his 2010 Finals Game 7 in that to offset his poor shooting he did good work on the glass (11 rebounds) and made some big plays late (including the aforementioned 3 pointer).

Late heroics aside, this game was much more about what went into building the lead in the first place. The Lakers trio of young players all played well. I mentioned Clarkson’s strong play down the stretch, but that shouldn’t overshadow the rest of his night. He poured in a team high 24 points on 10-15 shooting and added 3 assists too. There were times where the C’s ball pressure bothered him, but he was mostly steady as a shot creator and was able to get into the lane and balance that with made mid-range jumpers.

As for Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell, both also showed off their full skill sets. Randle was his typically active self, scoring 15 points and grabbing a team high 12 rebounds while handing out 4 assists. The C’s didn’t have a defender who could keep him from getting into the paint and once he got there he used his physicality to create scoring chances and get rebounds.

Russell, meanwhile, scored 16 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 3 assists. His shooting wasn’t great (7-17), but he missed a couple looks which he’d normally make. Further, he did fantastic work off the ball as a cutter, finding seams in the defense when his man lost vision while ball watching.

I’d be remiss if I also did not credit Lou Williams and Nick Young. The latter had some good minutes down the stretch, playing solid defense and staying within himself offensively by not forcing shots. Williams, however, milked his hot hand all night, burying 7 of his 9 shots for his 19 points. On a night where Kobe didn’t shoot well, the offense these two provided more than made up for it and gave the Lakers some additional punch from the wing.

This game, though, was about Kobe. All night he was showered with cheers and chants from those who were there to see his last game against a longtime rival, and boos from the diehards who wanted to give him the same treatment they have in the previous 19 seasons. Afterwards Kobe expressed how much it all meant to him and acknowledged how much these fans, in Boston, have pushed him throughout his career. For him to hit the shots he did in the 4th and come out with a victory surely won’t be forgotten — not by him and not by us fans either.


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Comments

  1. Ahmad says

    Seems like the whole team showed up to play today, with the rivalry perhaps being the reason behind that extra oomph they all needed to put up their A Games against a regularly staunch Celtics team. I loved the passion the young guys showed, I hope they keep it up. Thanks for continuing to cover the team, Darius, love your work.

    One criticism I have of JC is he is seemingly not a great late shot clock guy, relying too much on his athleticism or speed when defenses tend to buckle down. I really hope to see him improve that aspect of his game with some footwork/ finesse as he grows. Also, another solid game from Larry. I’m convinced he’s the appropriate starter for the rest of the season.

  3. tankyou says

    Bah, I decide to take a night off and bam–we win. So now I have to re-watch at least the 2nd half of the game. Good for Kobe on playing well down the stretch. This is nothing more than the Kobe retirement tour at this point, with the occasional excitement when one of our young 3 play really well. From the box score it looks like we finally had our wings pretty much all shoot amazingly well on the same night. The 76ers won as well, so last night was a crazy night.

  4. Laker uruguayo says

    Grande y festejada victoria, siempre es bueno ganarle a los Celtics.
    Luego de los festejos me surgen algunas preocupaciones.
    Me preocupa que no jueguen Black y MWP. De hecho, las cámaras mostraban ayer a Metta descontento.
    Me preocupa que puedan confundirse las prioridades. Si los Lakers ganan tres de los próximos cuatro partidos, podrían llegar a ilusionarse con los play-offs, postergando el crecimiento de los jóvenes, descartando las posibles transferencias de los veteranos y renunciando definitivamente a su pick.
    Esto podría traer otra consecuencia: si no hay transferencias ni renuncias a contratos parcialmente garantizados que abran un lugar en el roster, se corre el riesgo en pocos días de perder a Upshaw, que en la D-league empieza a parecerse al jugador que los Lakers necesitan.
    No sueño con el tanque y siempre es bueno estar en los play-offs, pero el equipo no está maduro y nos iríamos en primera ronda. Ni siquiera podemos pensar en acumular experiencia, el roster del próximo año será muy diferente al actual, salvo los jóvenes.
    Feliz año nuevo para todos!

    Big and celebrated victory, is always good to beat the Celtics.
    After the festivities me some concerns arise.
    I worry that they do not play Black and MWP. In fact, the cameras showed yesterday Metta discontent.
    I worry that may be mistaken priorities. If the Lakers win three of the next four games, they could delude reach the play-offs, delaying the growth of young, discarding any transfers of veterans and permanently renouncing their pick.
    This could bring another consequence: no transfers or waivers partially guaranteed contract to open a spot on the roster, you run the risk of losing a few days Upshaw, who in the D-league starts to look like the player the Lakers They need.
    Do not sleep with tank and is always good to be in the playoffs, but the team is not mature and we would go in the first round. We can not even think of gaining experience, the roster next year will be very different from today, except youth.
    Happy new year to all!
    (Translasted by Google. Sorry for the mistakes.)

  5. BigCitySid says

    – Easily my favorite win of the season. No it wasn’t even close to perfect, but it was a good team win against the team I despise the most. Thanks Lakers for my belated Christmas gift.

  7. Robert says

    No doubt that Kobe Rules. However let’s not forget that the team is simply playing better. Yes – we still are horrible, but the fact is that we have won 3 of the last 9 and it took us 24 games to win our first 3. Point is that sometimes we need to look at facts and not be subject to confirmation bias. Byron made some line up changes and if the team continued to lose or lost at a higher rate – then he would have been called an idiot. The fact is that he made some controversial line up changes, the team is playing better, and the team is winning more.

  8. stats says

    Great win. Thrilled that Kobe has that bomb to remember his last game in Boston. Also pleased to see Clarkson’s confidence, among other things.

    Now that we’ll soon see some shuffling of BS’ lineups (?), some New Year wishes:
    – a Tarik Black sighting;
    – a lineup with both Randle and Nance; [can it be done? neither are SF]
    – more games like last night from the young ‘uns. They give me hope, even though we have a long way to go.

    Safe and Happy New Year to all!

  10. KevTheBold says

    That 3 fanged snake bite from the momba was enough to forgive all the earlier misses.

    The youth core are very fortunate to have this legend’s insights, experience and examples to soak up in his final season.

    They will benefit tremendously, and always remember.

    Speaking of our young men, they gave me previews of their future greatness as a unit.

    I can truly start the new year with optimism about our Lakers !

  11. Clay Bertrand says

    I gotta admit I’m STILL drunk off that Celtic BEAT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    *Fern, BigGame was LOVIN it alright!!!!! That was hilarious!! The Line Drill, the defensive slides, the SLOW CLAP, the CutThroats…… I was laughing and breathing it all in deep!!! This was a REAL WIN!!!!

    *Kev, not only will you start the year with optimisim, but likely a 2 game WINNING STREAK with the 76ers comin to town tomorrow and having just beaten the Kings!!!! Either us or Philly will have a 2 game streak after tomorrow…..I’m betting my Liver that its US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    *Mid-Wilshire, great post last thread on the 2014 draft. We just took the plummetting Randle (and the screw in his foot) as the best player available at 7 and he has thus far outplayed all but Wiggins ahead of him. Clarkson is the CLEAR steal of the draft taken at 46. Jim Buss is a screwball but Mitch the Witch is among the better talent evaluators in the league. We draft well. We just need more PICKS!!!!!!!!!

    I hope Byron takes the shackles off of DAR and lets him out perform Okafor tomorrow. While these draft pick vs. draft pick rivalries don’t amount to anything in the standings, I just think DAR seems to rise to occasions when given the opportunities and playing against those he was drafted with seems to fire him up.

    Go LAKERS!!!!!!!!!! 2016 is OUR YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Optimisim abound!!!!!!!!!!!

  12. stats says

    @Mid – Thanks for the d-league updates. Keep ’em coming!

    Stupid question: is Hibbert of any trade worth, given his extinguishing contract?

  13. Fulofunk says

    Yah…..the James Worthy dance/”beat some Boston ass” has got to be up there as one of my Laker highlights for the Season!
    Brandon Bass’ interview was interesting…..he saw himself as a Celtic for life, then caught himself ” …..I’m a Laker now “. Must have been hard for the dude, but he certainly played well for us last night .

  14. matt says

    My nba 2k16(video game),
    lakers 2016-17 roster

    D.russ pg1,, clarkson pg2
    E.gordan sg1,, oj.mayo sg2
    H.barnes sf1,, jaylen brown sf2(rookie)
    Randle pf1,,, nance pf2
    Pachulia c1,, l.sanders c2

  15. KevTheBold says

    @ Clay,.. thanks!

    I too look for a revenge game.

    Though wouldn’t it be ridiculous if they had a race to the bottom?

    Both teams trying to lose in the 4th quarter would be comical, yet sad.

    Seriously though, I expect our core, to core them like an apple.

  16. KO says

    My last annoying post of 2015.

    Lakers are 2 moves away from a 40 plus team.

    Replacing a starting center that is last in NBA avaraging 6.8 pts and 6 rebs a game.

    Replacing a coach who can take young fast guys and let them run the court. Hence no Slow Roy.

    Could happen rest of this year but hope at least next season.

    Happy and safe New Years to all.

  17. Lil pau says

    Stats,
    Of course, absolutely!. Hibberts contract is incredibly attractive to a team that wishes to unload big contracts for any reason. It’s how we got pau– Memphis first spoke to chi who had the largest expiring contract. When the Bulls passed, they came to us as kwames deal was 2nd. Critics of the FO personnel selection often fail to consider the notion of a contract as an asset. This is particularly true of the ‘why didn’t we get anything back’ crowd. The question is: are there any disgruntled players out there we want? Hibberts deal is 3 fold in its benefits — tradeable, expiring and – only then – as a starting C for a team weak defensively.

    I would mention some candidates but fear I would run afoul of the guidelines, which is fair as they admittedly would be highly speculative.

  18. KevTheBold says

    @KO, you don’t annoy me, I understand the frustration after all these years. I also understand the need to vent.

    Happy New Year to you and yours as well !

  20. tankyou says

    @KO, you are quite the optimist. I agree with your “two moves’ that we need a better center and a better Coach. But we also need a defensive SF that can knock down 3’s, a shooting guard that can defend someone and isn’t 6′ tall and 165lbs, or 6′ 1” in shoes. Randle has to improve on the offensive end big time and be able to knock down a 15 footer consistently. We need a whole bunch of things. Maybe some improvements from our young guys next year, plus a new Coach, and a couple new players would snag us 30wins, but no way 40 wins, just far too many good well established teams that would whoop us most nights. It’s either going to take some major changes and improvements in talent, and especially defense, or its going to be a long wait.

    For me I’m trying to be optimistic by hoping we get back into the 40win club by 2017-2018 season. I just can’t see us winning 40 the following year, unless they signed a Kevin Durant type player by some miracle (which I think is highly highly unlikely).

    Happy new year, the good news is when you lose this bad, people start quoting stats about how much “better” we are doing when we win 3 games in a month.

  21. LordMo says

    @KO

    Why would you make any move to become a 40 win team?

    I believe most forget that we are the Lakers! We play for rings period! We hang banners buddy!

    Don’t settle and don’t aspire to become a middle-rung team. It’s all about getting this pick and the development of our young players. Then we will go from there.

    Free Agents why? For what? Not going to contend with what you have even if you had a big name player. Because this team is not even remotely ready. About 3 to 4 years away realistically before they become a playoff caliber team let alone a championship level squad.

    So, rebuild on people!!!!

  22. LordMo says

    Side note….

    Patience everyone believe me I want to go Krakatoa over our current situation. We are so use to success that the collective mindset of LakerLand is struggling coming to grips with the reality of the situation. Even Kobe had delusions of former glory until reality set in that Father Time is undefeated. This has jolted the FO into reality also. And really could not have come at a better time. It wasn’t going to happen without a trade because there really wasn’t a big time player out there that would have gotten us back to the mountain top anyway. We would have needed 2 players in addition to Kobe to pull it off after Gasol left.

    So really a miscalculation by the FO… we didn’t have the Kobe of the Shaq or Gasol era anymore…so again it is really time!

    Now give the young guys time. They want to show us what they can do but all in due time young fellas!

    Steph Curry has been in the league like what 6 or 7 years now. Didn’t happen overnight for him.
    Remember some even questioned the pick the first couple years. Look at him now.

    Give our kids some time it’s a process!

  23. KevTheBold says

    @LordMo Agree 100% !

    We are on the path to building a new team to our specifications, with our values and Laker mentality.

    If we keep our pick, cool, if not, we trade and patch in solid young free agents and train them.

    Eventually, we Will rise again to our royal throne.

    We only need patience and faith.

    @Mid, thanks for the updates !

    Happy New Year to Darius and All the fine people here !

  24. KevTheBold says

    @Mid-Wilshire, Upshaw is doing great work !

    14points 13 rebounds 5 blocks !!

    We should pull him up, before some other team does.

  26. LordMo says

    Side , Side note….

    If Durant goes to Golden State tells me all I need to know but what I already knew. He is reluctant to be the man. Durant might be a number 2 guy in disguise of a number 1 not due to talent but due to disposition. Just bolsters my argument that Westbrook should really be the ultimate Lakers target!

  27. rr says

    KO,
    You posted something in the off-season talking about this as a 40-win team and offering to bet Aaron that the Lakers would not be bottom 3, as he predicted. Big picture, buddy.
    Lil Pau,
    Most of those who were down on the Hibbert deal didn’t like giving up a pick for him, even a second-rounder, since Indiana was trying to dump his salary. Also, some posters overrated his ability to positively impact the team defense, which is why he is getting some blowback now. I think Byron is a pretty bad coach for a team that lacks talent (and that was clear before he was hired) but one reason for the constant vitriol directed his way is that a lot of Lakers fans simply had unrealistic expectations for this roster. But yes—Hibbert’s deal does have a lot of tactical value. We will see how the FO leverages it.

  28. rr says

    LordMo,
    As I mentioned the other day when somebody posted a SSR article comparing Larry Nance Jr. to Draymond Green (a comp that is not entirely baseless if you look at some metrics and some eye-test similarities) both Curry and Green have had very unusual career arcs, and Golden State has reached this point of excellence in ways that are historically unique. Curry was picked 7th and Green was picked 35th. This is not to say that the Lakers should not look at what Golden State is doing, but the chances of Russell and Nance Jr. following similar arcs are very, very slim.
    That said, I recall saying to Robert in an email last year that the FO has shown some drafting acumen, and all the picks look pretty good at the moment. But OTOH, the league is not especially worried about the Lakers having Russell/Randle/Clarkson/Nance Jr. When most people think young cores in the West, they think Minnesota and Utah, not the Lakers.

  29. Kevin says

    If we keep our pick, cool, if not, we trade and patch in solid young free agents and train them.

    —

    Unfortunately, the FO’s MO has been exactly the opposite. They have, recently, focused on elite yet ill fitting targets (age and mileage). The kids have been a byproduct of this flawed strategy. Thankfully, they offer hope for the future.

    I tend not to dwell on Byron and our current patchwork of players (Young, Hibbett, Bass and Williams). To me they are symptoms of poor management.

    Kobe’s extension was supposed to buy cover while the FO fixed this thing. That has not worked out as the Lakers are still a work in progress and tears away from competing.

    Next year is when the rubber hits the road. The Kobe security blanket will be gone. The Lakers may lose their pick and the free agent market is KD or bust.

    Despite all this, keeping the pick brightens the future. Getting another young talent would set the Lakers up to be attractive in the free agent bonanza of 2017.

    Jim then becomes the most undeserving luckiest man in the world.

  30. KO says

    Not true rr.

    I do not remember or acknowledge any predictions from prior years. It is a Italian and senility thing.

    Take it back!

  31. KevTheBold says

    @LordMo,

    I don’t envision Kevin Durant as a 2nd banana and hope he doesn’t see himself that way. So hopefully the warriors will fail in their attempt to recruit him.

    As for Westbrook, I thought you agreed that a top tier free agent isn’t in our best interest.

    Especially the injury risk of one that burns the candle at both ends.

    He goes down and our rebuild is pushed back for a decade for trying to cheat the lady of rings and her tried & true process, which natually, takes time and patience.

  32. LordMo says

    @rr
    Nance has some potential for sure most work hard on his offense to complement his hustle game. If he becomes Green like time will tell but I would settle for a guy that can give us energy off the bench consistently. Ultimately Randle starts at the 4 that’s a year off.

    @Kev
    Regarding Durant he got nothing but air and opportunity and GS took what’s should have been his. Let’s see how he responds.

    Regarding the free agents I don’t want just any FA’s.
    These are Cali boys…. Sign DeRosen , Get the Pick , Trade Clarkson for assets, develop the young core and sign Westbrook.

    1) Russell
    2) Westbrook
    3) Derosen
    4) Randle/Rookie
    5) FA Big / Trade

    Let’s Roll with that in 2017!