Celtics Bomb Lakers Back to November
Man, that was ugly. And it started so promisingly.
The Lakers never were as sharp as the Boston Celtics, but they were down only eight at the half.
Then the Celtics flipped the "wipeout" switch and left the Lakers in smoldering ruins, 110-91, as the Staples Center crowd headed for the exits.
All that progress the Lakers seemed to be making, this month? Winning 10 of 13 before Sunday's game?
Gone. Poof.
The Celtics seemed to expose them as disorganized children, far from serious consideration among the NBA's elite.
Of course, the Celtics have been doing that to just about everyone. They're 26-3, after all. They already have two more victories than they did all of last season.
The big change is the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Garnett brings a sort of drill-sergeant intensity to the whole Boston franchise, and Allen gives them another proven scorer and nice all-around player.
Actually, the Celtics have three current superstars (Paul Pierce being the third), and no other team in the league can say that.
The Lakers dissolved in the face of Boston's defense, casting off ridiculous shots almost from the opening tip.
Thanks to some baskets at the end, they "hiked" their shooting percentage to 36.5, when it was over. But Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom were obviously pressing, and they had the shooting numbers (6-for-26 for Kobe, 6-for-17 for Odom) to prove it.
The scary thing for the Lakers -- and for Boston opponents -- is that the Celtics seemed ripe for the picking. The Celts were playing their fourth road game in five nights, starting point guard Rajon Rondo (hamstring) didn't suit up, and the crowd (and Lakers) seemed to be fired up about the game.
Then the Celtics smoked the Lakers in the second half. Ack.
Now Boston goes out to see if it can make a run at the NBA record for victories (72; they're on pace to get there), and then to find out how deep it can get in the playoffs. Boston hasn't won an NBA title since 1986 and was 24-58 just last year.
The Lakers, meanwhile, will try to bounce back, and get back to that learning curve their kids were on. They have to hope Bryant isn't too deflated by this experience ("Hey, trade me to Boston!"), but he tried too hard and got out of his game almost immediately.
The Lakers get winnable home games vs. Philadelphia and Indiana over the next seven days. If they bounce back, this will just be a big green bump in the road. What they can't afford is to let this butt-kicking destroy their confidence.