Westbrook, Lakers flex against Celtics

LOS ANGELES (News4usonline) -After being thumped on the head by the Los Angeles Clippers in their previous home game, the Los Angeles Lakers put the whupping on the Boston Celtics. The effects of the Lakers super trio of Lebron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook was felt by the Celtics.

After this latest Green and Purple dance, both the Lakers and the Celtics sport 13-12 records, nothing to really sing about. But for the Lakers, they’ll take it after beating their longtime rivals, 117-102. James put on a show, going 13 for 19 from the field to score 30 points in the Lakers’ victory.

The team’s overall effort was what impressed James the most about the win.

“I just like the way we competed tonight from both sides of the floor,” James said. “High intensity. We had a lot of movement. Guys were attacking the rim. Very efficient. I think defensively, besides the first 14 avalanche on [Jayson] Tatum’s part, we locked in from that point on.

“So, any time we’re able to get stops like that, we’re a very, very good team because we’re one of the best teams in transition. We got a lot of guys that attack the paint. We have a lot of guys that can make plays for others. Tonight was close to 48 minutes, it was one of the best games of the season as far as the way we just played.”

Mr. Westbrook is in the building ? pic.twitter.com/jXTunSAf3t

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 8, 2021

With James (16 points) and Boston star Jayson Tatum (14 points) trying to up one another in the first quarter, this game figured to be a high-scoring affair with the Celtics holding a 33-31 edge. After that initial run by Tatum and the Celtics, the Lakers put the cool down on Boston shooters, not allowing another 30-point quarter the rest of the game.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel talked about the defensive improvement his team made coming off a 119-115 defeat to the Clippers.

“Much better than it’s been,” Vogel said. “We learn about our group a little bit every game. We make our adjustments. Our group has a great way of talking things out and having group intelligence. Our coaching staff really evaluates what we’re doing on a game-by-game basis and we’re very proud of our defensive performance tonight.

“Boston had been No. 2 rated offense in the league over the last 10 games and our defensive rating – which is the metric we use to measure our defense – was 104, which was ranked second. It was big growth from the other night against the Clippers.”

The Lakers won this game on the defensive and the work they put in under the boards. The Lakers had their way inside the paint, scoring 66 points down low in comparison to the 42 points the Celtics managed to come up with. The Lakers put up 18 points from second chance efforts, while the C’s could only muster six the entire game.

The Lakers also outrebounded Boston, 51-34. Boston center Robert Williams III attributes the Lakers’ dominance on the boards to blown assignments.

“Messing up coverages repeatedly,” Williams remarked. “Obviously it was completely on us. Me, my teammates. Like I said, just messing up simple coverages.”

Davis and Westbrook took advantage of those mistakes. Davis scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Westbrook scored 24 points. Westbrook scored 15 of his point total in the third quarter when the Lakers outscored the Celtics by 11 (31-20) in the period.

That third quarter scoring eruption is nothing new for Westbrook. That’s just his basketball makeup.

“It’s good,” Westbrook stated. “That’s who I am, what I bring to the table. It’s what my teammates need from me. I want to be able to share my energy, my spirit with the rest of the fans, rest of the world. And have fun while doing it. This game, it’s something I don’t take for granted, so while I’m playing it, I like to have fun while doing it.”

Featured Image Caption: Russell Westbrook (0) in this file photo. Photo by Dennis J. Freeman/News4usonline