BOSTON — With the Celtics looking to put together a comeback attempt against the Lakers, the starters just weren’t ready to play to open the second half. The shorthanded Lakers’ lead ballooned to 16 points — and it came off an effort play on their part.
After an Austin Reaves miss, there were three Celtics near the ball when it came off the rim. But nobody went up to get the ball. So not only did Jaxson Hayes get the offensive rebound, he got the and-1 put-back layup to stretch the LeBron James and Anthony Davis-less Lakers’ lead.
In response, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla subbed out three of his starters who were around the ball: Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown. Into the game came in Al Horford, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard, all of whom made positive impacts in the second quarter. Brown reacted to that surprise benching with 9:04 left in the third quarter of the 114-105 loss Thursday at TD Garden.
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“I haven’t been in that position too often, so it kind of is what it is,” Brown said. “We weren’t playing our best, I wasn’t playing my best, so nothing I can really say there. Every time I step on the court, I try to add to winning. Tonight, I tried to make sure I was being unselfish, hitting the guys in stride, sharing the ball. But I was a little lackadaisical, it wasn’t my best game. But I’ll put it behind me and get ready for the next one.”
It was an otherwise forgettable night for the Celtics starter. They never found their rhythm as they put up nine turnovers alone in the first quarter. The Lakers shot 52.8% on 3-pointers, including some crucial ones to stunt the Celtics’ momentum throughout the game.
But there was also another factor where the C’s seemingly relaxed after hearing James and Davis were out Thursday. Brown said they weren’t going to use that as an excuse, then added nobody wants to hear that from the losing squad. Porzingis said he felt the benching was deserved because of the team’s effort as it wasn’t up their normal standards.
“Of course we were pissed off,” Porzingis said. “We’re pissed off at ourselves and I completely understood. I never want to come out of the game, but I completely understood we had to change something. We’re not playing good basketball. … Those guys that came in and subbed us out — we were playing terrible — those guys came in, gave us some energy.”
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