Celtics lose to the Lakers and miss a big opportunity.
Commentary: On a night when the starters faltered against a team with a short bench, Boston ought to have given its bench more time on the field.
Boston — The Celtics are arguably one of the NBA teams that are most anticipating the All-Star break at this time. Even though LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (hip) were declared out of the game hours before tipoff due to injury, Boston’s players looked remarkably flat against the Lakers B team on Thursday night, their first game in 16 games over the previous 28 nights. The team lost 114-105.
Despite being double-digit favorites going into the game, the Celtics started the game as sluggishly as we’ve seen all season. Nine turnovers in the first quarter set a season high for the hosts this year. In the first quarter, Boston trailed by as much as nine points until their second unit helped right the ship. The reserves erased the early damage with a 15-3 run to temporarily retake the lead in the second quarter. They were playing with a different intensity level and focus, something we’ve seen often from them lately.
It would have been a good idea for Coach Joe Mazzulla to ride Boston’s reserves in its third game in four nights against a hot-shooting Lakers club that had nothing to lose. At least on paper, they weren’t going to be outmatched against players like D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves. During their first-half run, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard consistently ignited the offense, and Neemias Queta was making an impact at the rim and on the glass.
But Mazzulla went back to the sluggish starters at the halftime break, and Boston’s lackluster play at both ends of the court caused them to trail by 14 points at the end of the second quarter. By the time the half ended, Boston was losing badly on the offensive glass and had committed 12 turnovers, five of which came from the starting five.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Mazzulla made the decision to change things up because Porzingis was not playing at his best while recovering from an ankle ailment and multiple Boston starters were being outworked on the glass. Three minutes into the second half, he made an odd decision and went to his bench, benching Jaylen Brown, Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday in favor of Pritchard, Hauser, and Al Horford. Derrick White made a prompt recovery to rejoin the club, but the decision to bench several starters early from the regular rotation conveyed a significant message.
Regarding the benching in the third quarter, Mazzulla remarked, “I think that’s part of it. I’ve done that to our whole team at different points throughout the season.”
Boston’s bench has been consistent all year long and truly looked like the team’s best players Thursday night. The reserves responded to Mazzulla’s faith with a 12-2 run shortly after re-entering the game, helping the team chip away at a 16-point Lakers lead while Brown, Porzingis and White watched from the bench.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Mazzulla returned to his struggling bench three, despite the fact that it was clear the Celtics were playing superior basketball without their starters. There was more poor play as a result. A 4-of-12 shooter, Brown was making bad plays on both ends of the court. Porzingis was frequently torched in pick-and-roll situations, which created an opportunity for easy 3-pointers. White was lacking his shooting touch and making unusually poor choices.
When Mazzulla waved the white flag with two minutes remaining in the game, Boston as a whole stayed flat and failed to mount a strong comeback.
In the end, Mazzulla kind of wasted this chance on a lackluster night overall. With Boston’s caliber of players, sitting the bench is never an easy decision, but there are instances when it is the best one. Following the game, Brown and Porzingis expressed their understanding of the benching and said they thought it was fair.
With the way the Lakers were shooting from 3-point range, sitting the starters more during the fourth quarter may not have ultimately changed much, but it does hint at the kind of difficult choices Mazzulla will have to make during the regular season and the postseason.
During the season, this squad should benefit from benching a starter on a non-starting night in a number of ways. Occasionally, it serves as a strategy to get a player to focus when he eventually comes back to the game. It also aids in protecting a player’s wear and tear during a physically demanding period of time. Longer stints in these positions with players like Pritchard and Hauser also assist collect data on the kind of spark these guys can produce when given more time.
Although Mazzulla has improved his ability to read and adjust throughout games this season, he and his club both should have performed better on this particular night. Although benching players in the third quarter was a start, much more could have been done to keep this team from losing badly, such as benching players more frequently in the second quarter or switching to them more frequently in the closing minutes of the game. When given the chance, the bench can assist the Celtics, and Mazzulla did not fully utilize those high-energy options on a night when this team needed them.
