The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics will add another chapter to the most storied rivalry in the NBA when they face off against each other on Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center. There have been a few small changes for both teams involved, so to get a better idea of what to expect on Sunday, Justin Quinn, editor of the Celtics Wire and myself, decided to give a quick synopsis on what’s going on with each of the teams we cover.
What’s up with the Celtics?
Justin: Not too much has changed since for the Boston Celtics since the two rivals last met, except, perhaps, perception.
The win over the then-consensus frontrunners to win it all gave Boston’s contention case a major boost, and they’ve added some noteworthy wins to their resume since. Having bested the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers and crosstown rival Clippers has convinced a fair number of great basketball minds Boston truly belongs in the contention conversation.
That they’ve only dropped games to the New Orleans Pelicans after they added Zion Williamson back into their rotation and the Houston Rockets after going ultra-small is perhaps even more convincing, as an 11-2 record without consecutive days off is hard to accomplish, and the Celtics have done it down various rotation players and starters — sometimes several simultaneously.
While Boston’s lack of bench shooting and scoring continues to be a problem for the team, it’s not been enough of one to slow their roll much, either. This should explain the lack of activity at the Feb. 6 trade deadline for the franchise, and the general disinterest in the few buyout options worth considering that have come upon the buyout market. If it’s not broken, why fix it?
Since the start of February, the Celtics have slipped a bit on defense, but also scored more per game than at any time of the season, averaging 119 points per contest, up 4.8 points per game from January, their previous high-water mark. It’s converted into the team’s best win ratio of the season at exactly the time Boston’s difficulty of schedule began to increase.
What’s up with the Lakers?
Erik: The Los Angeles Lakers made small changes on the periphery over the weekend, though they are not official yet, they do have an impact on what the Lakers will look like beyond Sunday’s game against the Celtics. News broke on Friday that the Lakers would be waiving injured center DeMarcus Cousins, who tore his ACL in August, in order to make room for recently waived forward Markieff Morris, whom Celtics fans will know well from their playoff battles against the Wizards.
How much Morris will help the Lakers remains to be seen, but the fact that he’s healthy means that he can add more value on the court than Cousins. The calculus, according to at least one report, is that Morris can play more as a power forward while letting Kyle Kuzma get more minutes at the small forward spot. Kuzma is playing a career-high 91% of his minutes at power forward this season according to Cleaning The Glass, but it’s still a question about what his best position is. While some suggest that Kuzma is a true wing, the Lakers have typically performed better when he plays at the 4, according to Cleaning The Glass. So far this season, the 5% of the time he’s seen at small forward has been bad.
However, that’s not to say that Kuzma can’t improve in that role. They will definitely need him to deliver as a more consistent scorer in the playoffs, regardless of whether he plays at the 3 or the 4. But for the Lakers to win this game, they simply need a better game from their stars.
Anthony Davis took just seven shots in the first match-up and a lot of credit should be given to the Celtics excellent defense. That was also the game after LeBron famously went to see his son’s game in Springfield before taking the 90-minute drive back to Boston, which he acknowledged threw off his routine.
Although the Lakers are in the middle of changes, I expect them to deliver a much stronger performance on Sunday afternoon than the one they gave back in January.
@source Ustoday