Celtics 
LeBron James controlled the game, running the Lakers’ offense both as a scorer and as passer, grabbing 14 rebounds. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
January 24, 2025 | 1:14 AM
The Celtics looked like a team on the second night of a back-to-back on Thursday, falling in a 117-96 blowout to the Lakers.
Here are the takeaways.
LeBron James was up for Wednesday’s game.
Love him or hate him – and we say that acknowledging that most readers of the website Boston.com probably tilt towards the latter – LeBron James continues to defy complex existential concepts like “physics” and “time.”
James, somehow, is still doing it. He controlled the game, running the Lakers’ offense both as a scorer and as passer, and his 14 rebounds had the dual effect of ending the Celtics’ possessions and jump-starting the Lakers’ possession at a brisk pace since he tends to bring the ball up himself. James also finished with 20 points and six assists.
The rivalry between James and the Celtics seems to have cooled a bit as James’ career winds down (or at least, as we assume it’s winding down), which is a little ironic given that he joined the Celtics’ historic rival.
But an important component of the animosity between James and the Celtics was their proximity – when the Celtics faced James three times a year in the regular season and once in the Eastern Conference finals or semifinals, the rivalry built like a pressure cooker. Now they see each other twice a year in regular-season games that simply don’t matter as much to either the Celtics or James, especially given the relatively small chances of a postseason showdown.
Still, James did seem to have a little throwback energy for his old rival on Thursday.
The Celtics looked exhausted.
Blame the schedule-makers for giving the Celtics a grueling stretch of games, which made their “Rivalry Week” road showdown against the Lakers their fifth game in seven nights (the schedule doesn’t let up from here, incidentally – the Celtics don’t have two nights off in a row again until the All-Star break).
Blame the Celtics themselves for allowing Wednesday’s game to get away from them and go to overtime unnecessarily, given the quality of the Clippers roster that trotted out to meet them at the Intuit Dome.
Blame the bench for failing to show up in a way that would take some weight off the shoulders of the Celtics’ stars.
Whoever you decide to blame for Thursday’s failings, the Celtics simply did not look like they had the legs to compete with the Lakers, especially on a night when the Lakers shot so well. The Celtics played isolation basketball too much – often a reliable indicator of their exhaustion – and their defense spotted the Lakers a big lead early and was never tough enough to break their rhythm.
The shooting stats were brutal.
This deserves its own breakout point separate from the exhaustion, even though it seems very likely that the two points are related.
The Celtics finished 38.5 percent from the floor. Kristaps Pozingis was hot early but cooled off late, and he was the only starter to shoot 50 percent or better.
Jaylen Brown was 7-for-19.
Derrick White and Al Horford were both 1-for-5.
Jrue Holiday was 1-for-6.
Payton Pritchard was 2-for-12.
Again, blame it on whatever you want – the Lakers’ defense, the fifth game in seven nights, the unnecessary overtime – but whatever reason you choose, the Celtics simply were never going to win a game in which nobody outside of Tatum, Brown or Porzingis scored in double figures, especially when Tatum, Brown and Porzingis were all unremarkable themselves.
Jaden Springer came in too late.
We are only half-joking here: After turning the Celtics’ game against the Clippers completely on its head by shutting down Kevin Porter Jr. and knocking down a pair of clutch 3-pointers, Springer seemed to have a little extra spring in his step when he entered Thursday’s game in garbage time. He finished with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting and made both of his 3-point attempts, leaving us with no choice but to wonder what could have been if Mazzulla had simply played his game-changing superstar earlier in the game.
Gabe Vincent loves playing the Celtics.
For Gabe Vincent (and apparently Caleb Martin, given what happened earlier this year), playing the Celtics will always be a throwback to the 2023 Eastern Conference finals when he simply could not miss.
Vincent has made four 3-pointers in one other game this year – a Dec. 18 contest between the Lakers and the Kings.
On Thursday, Vincent shot 4-for-7 from deep and finished with 12 points. As a team, the Lakers finished 15-for-35 (42.9 percent) from deep, getting 3-for-4 and 4-for-8 performances from Dalton Knecht and Austin Reaves respectively.
The end (of the road trip) is in sight.
The Celtics now have less than 48 hours to get to Dallas and prepare for their Finals rematch against the Mavericks. A win would salvage a 3-1 road trip, which – given the circumstances – would feel fairly consequential.
When the Celtics return to TD Garden, they will face the Rockets and Bulls on Monday and Wednesday respectively.
We will have more takeaways soon.
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