Key Moment
There’s an old saying that defense leads to offense. That’s exactly what happened for the Boston Celtics at the most critical moments of their Christmas Day matchup with the Lakers in LA.
There aren’t many players in the league who, as a defender, can muscle up with LeBron James in the post. Jrue Holiday is one of them. Midway through the fourth quarter, Holiday forced James into a critical turnover that initiated a game-closing run from the C’s.
With five minutes remaining in the game, and with Boston leading by 10, James attempted to post up on Holiday, who held his ground. James couldn’t make anything happen on his own and eventually attempted to slip a pass between Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis to Rui Hachimura in the paint. However, James’ pass was more or less a hand-off to Porzingis.
Porzingis immediately got the ball over to Holiday, who passed ahead to Derrick White, who found a streaking Jayson Tatum for an uncontested alley-oop in transition. That bucket jumpstarted 9-4 run by Boston that pushed the C’s ahead 122-107 with 2:40 left, essentially sealing the win.
During the run, the Celtics also forced James into another turnover while limiting LA to just two made baskets. Boston, meanwhile, shot 4-for-5 from the field and added in a free throw, all while not committing a turnover, to take total control of the game.
Key Player
Kristaps Porzingis was questionable to play on Christmas Day against the Lakers. He not only wound up playing, but he wound up dominating.
Porzingis started and played 35-plus minutes of impressive basketball while compiling a 28-point, 11-rebound double-double. This performance marked his fourth double-double of the season.
Porzingis’ scoring and rebounding totals were bested by only Anthony Davis of the Lakers (40 points, 13 rebounds), which means that Boston’s big man led the team in both categories. He also dished out two assists, blocked two shots and grabbed a steal during the contest.
The Celtics were dominant while he was on the floor. They outscored Los Angeles by 16 points during his 35 minutes of action, which tied with Derrick White for the top plus/minus rating in the game.
Box Score Nuggets
- Six Celtics scored in double-figured, including all five starters scoring at least 18.
- Boston was led by Kristaps Porzingis’ 28 points and 11 rebounds.
- Anthony Davis led the game with 40 points and 13 rebounds.
- Boston blocked seven shots, while LA blocked just one.
- Porzingis and Derrick White each blocked two shots.
- White totaled 18 points and seven assists.
- Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and tied White for the team high in assists with seven.
- Payton Pritchard led all Celtics reserves with 10 points.
- Seven of the nine Celtics who checked into the game dished out at least one assist.
- LeBron James totaled 16 points, nine rebounds and a game-high eight assists.
- Boston’s largest lead was 18, while LA’s was just two.
Quote of the Night
“We’ve just got a dynamic team. When we play the right way, when we play with pace, it’s very hard to guard us.”
– Jayson Tatum on the Celtics’ offense
