Lakers Show Strengths & Weaknesses Against Celtics

Kobe Bryant brought his A game against the Celtics just like always! But what you are most likely hearing from the general media about the Lakers victory Christmas Day over the Boston Celtics is that other than Kobe Bryant, it was Pau Gasol who stepped up and had a great game.

And while Pau closed out the game with a bang, it was the other role players who really won the game for the Lakers, and helped Kobe and co. end the Boston Celtics 19 game winning streak. After a more careful review of the game play by play, I came across some interesting stats and key plays that help point out exactly who helped out the Lakers the most, and what areas need improvement.

Luke Walton

Luke Walton was huge in this game. Particularly in the first three quarters of the game. Luke played a total of 27 minutes, scored eight points, had four rebounds, five assists, and 1 steal. Of course you can find that kind of information by reading the box score, but by watching the game with some special attention there are a few other things to point out.

At the 7:58 mark in the first quarter, Luke Walton brings the ball up the court and finds Andrew Bynum with a beautiful feed for a dunk. This dunk gets Andrew Bynum involved in the game and we start to see more activity out of him.

At the 1:47 mark in the 1st quarter, the Celtics went on a small run to go up 19-16, only to have that run ended by a corner three pointer from Luke Walton. Let's move onto the second quarter. With 24 seconds remaining in the first half Walton drains a huge three pointer to put the Lakers ahead by five.

And in the 3rd quarter, Walton feeds Kobe Bryant with a beautiful back door pass which leads to a slam by Bryant. Defensively Luke Walton had a steal on Perkins in the 1st quarter, a block in the 3rd quarter, and a key forced turnover on Paul Pierce attempting a jump shot off a screen in the 3rd. Altogether, Luke Walton played a huge role in the Lakers defeat over the Celtics on Christmas day.

Lamar Odom

Many Laker fans like to talk trash about Odom when he doesn't fill up the box score with points or assists. Hence the reason why Odom is the name who always comes up in trade talks. But it's the small things that Lamar Odom can do that can change a game. And that is exactly what he did against the C's. Odom had a total of 10 points, seven Rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocked shots.

Perhaps the biggest two plays for Lamar Odom came toward the end of the 3rd Quarter, when he hit back to back 3 pointers from basically the same spot on the floor. It was not only that he hit two three pointers in a row, but the timing of the 3 pointers to close out the 3rd quarter.

Trevor Ariza

Trevor Ariza's box score impact was very minimal. But there were 3 plays that he was a part of that were key during 3 different parts of the game. The first came during the 9:19 mark in the 2nd quarter when Kobe punched a loose ball to the other end of the court. Ariza out ran and out hustled Eddie House for the loose ball and while falling out of bounds, found Sasha Vujacic for a “and 1” layup.

The second came during the 5:06 mark in the 4th quarter with the game tied up, Trevor Ariza steals the ball from Tony Allen and and saves the ball barely from going out bounds once again. The final key play was Ariza's dunk towards the end of the game after Pau Gasol's block on Ray Allen's jump shot.

Sasha Vujacic

Sasha is the type of player who will always be known as just a shooter, but the guy can play some fantastic defense some times. And on Christmas Day he did just that when called upon to guard Ray Allen. Sasha scored 10 points, and although he was only one for five from 3-point range, he stretched the Celtics defense with his long range threat and kept the Boston defense honest. He of course had the layup “and 1” during the first quarter after a Trevor Ariza hustle play. This was one of the turning points of the game, as the Lakers showed they could hustle too.

More Strengths

It's obvious now that the Celtics miss Forward James Posey. Kobe Bryant had a much easier time scoring and getting into the lane against Ray Allen and Tony Allen. That Celtics defense did not feel nearly as dominant as it did last season. Also, the Lakers showed an obvious advantage inside with their length.

Kendrick Perkins, who Boston fans have been raving about for months now, was nowhere to be found. Either was Leon Powe. It's obvious as well that the Celtics miss P.J Brown, and might need to find some more size and length inside via free agency or some other means.

Guarding Ray Allen

The Lakers used Derek Fisher most of the game to chase Ray Allen around defensively. It worked! Ray was playing better than anybody on the Celtics roster, shooting the lights out from deep all season long. In this game he was limited to 14 points on 5-14 shooting and only 1 trip to the line! Great job by Derek Fisher in this game, as well as a key block on Ray Allen from Pau Gasol at the end.

Guarding Paul Pierce

This appears to still be a major weakness for the Lakers. As it is for most teams. Pierce was relatively quite during the first two quarters until he exploded in the third. He did not have a huge game, ending with 20 points and only two trips to the foul line. But the third quarter shows us that the Lakers will continue to have major struggles guarding Pierce. They need an athletic and strong small forward, like a Gerald Wallace to compete more in this area.

The Big Weak Spot - Andrew Bynum

Laker fans love themselves some Andrew Bynum. And the box score showed he played descent. Nine Points, seven Rebounds, two Blocked shots. The effect of having Bynum in the came alone took Boston center Kendrick Perkins out of the game. Perkins was a relative non-factor all game long. But defensively, Bynum was hardly the effect the Lakers needed him to be.

Bynum played a total of 35 minutes in this game, and during those 35 minutes the Boston Celtics scored 18 buckets in the paint! That's a total of 36 points in the paint while the big seven footer was on the floor! Ouch! If the Lakers want to win a game in Boston, Bynum will have to be 10x the factor he was in the paint on Christmas day! The other 13 minutes Bynum was not on the floor, the Celtics only scored two baskets or four points in the paint.

Final Statement

Everything looked great for the Lakers on Christmas Day. Boston in the middle of their 19 game winning streak, was on a role and playing the best basketball of their lives. The Lakers, coming off four games in five nights and all on the road, playing very sluggish ball to say the least.

All of that said the Lakers turned up the heat and played well against the defending champs, showing them they can beat the Celtics on their home floor, even when Boston is playing their A game.

But this game took place in Los Angeles. In Boston it will be a different story with a different ending, unless the Lakers can find a way to get Andrew Bynum to be more of a defensive force in the paint. Role players like Luke Walton will play well at home, but not on the road. If the Lakers expect to ever win a game in Boston, they are going to have to show their young center how to play some D!

For the Celtics this is bad news because it shows that the Lakers, after coming off four games in five nights, without their backup young point guard Jordan Farmar, and without much of a defensive presence inside from Andrew Bynum can still beat you! It means that the Lakers have the pieces in place. All they have to do is improve their young guys like Bynum and they are on their way to a championship.