For the Boston Celtics—all good things must come to an end. Tonight, it was their winning streak. In the coming weeks it could be the tenure of the "Big 3."
The Boston Celtics fell to the Los Angeles Lakers by the score of 88-87 in a heartbreaking overtime defeat on Thursday, February 9. With the win, Los Angeles improves to 15-11 on the season while Boston falls to 14-11.
Coming into the game I was excited for the classic rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics. Unfortunately this season, neither team can be considered a powerhouse despite the abundance of talent on both rosters. I believed the Celtics had the advantage with the Lakers going 4-9 on the road while Boston was 10-7 at home. Boston was also 8-2 in their last 10 games while Los Angeles was a mere 5-5. Sometimes statistics can't predict the outcome.
Ray Allen led the Celtics with 22 points, six rebounds, and two assists on the night. Paul Pierce contributed 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists while Kevin Garnett added 12 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists to round out the performances from the "Big 3."
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant scored 27 points with five rebounds and four assists while Pau Gasol added 25 points and 14 rebounds.
Andrew Bynum contributed 16 points while grabbing 17 boards and Matt Barnes led the reserves with 11 points in just over 17 minutes of play off the bench.The final seconds of overtime were devastating for this Celtics' fan. Pierce's shot rimmed out and bounced over to Allen who gave it a two-handed shove back to the basket, unfortunately Gasol came up big with a huge block that gave the Lakers the one point victory.
"I've been in situations before in my career where you freeze … catch yourself looking at the ball and end up losing the game," Gasol said.
It is a shame this game was not one of those situations.
Overall, the Celtics did not play good basketball. Had they won, they still did not play good basketball. They shot just .392 from the field, which by pure luck, was enough to keep the game close. On the flip side, the Lakers shot under 40 percent as well.