Tough loss

Aloha,

I didn’t have this one as a win. The Celtics had rested players the game before while had to fly 3,000 miles after a tough overtime game against the Knicks. While they didn’t have Porzingas, we did not have Rui and Jackson, which I think is more important to us.

We had 3 good quarters. We lost the game in the third quarter. We just could not make a shot. We missed our 1st ten and didn’t make a basket until under 6 minutes. Still, we came back and cut it to 4. It’s really hard to come back from that far down, especially when LeBron is out for the stretch run. You spend a lot of energy coming back and we ran out of gas. But for me, it showed that if we were to meet these guys in the finals, we can play with these them . I doubt we will have very many shooting quarters like the third.

The game plan last night resembled our offense last year. Put the ball in LeBrons hand and get out of the way. Except it was Luka. Brown is a great defender. I think I would have had Austin run the offense more. He’s a good playmaker as well and it might have upset their game plan because it revolved around stopping Luka and Lebron. Speaking of Austin it was good to see him have a bounce back shooting night.

Goodwin continues to impress. He definitely will be on the team for the playoffs.

We did a good job keeping Boston off the 3 point line. They only shot 38. We actually shot 2 more 3’s and made one more. It was offensive rebounds and untimely turnovers that were the difference. Rui and Jax definitely could’ve helped on the boards.

Speaking of turnovers, the Celtics were allowed to mug Luka all night. One play in particular really pissed me off. Brown hit Luka in the head, knocking him off the ball for a steal. What made this one so egregious was it happened in the open court with just the two of them and all 3 officials turned their heads. There was a definite home court advantage when it came to the officials.

We are Losing LeBron for at least a week. I’m thinking probably two. We actually are 3-1 without LeBron. But Rui is also out and he usually steps up big when LeBron is hurt. The good news is Rui ramping up and could be available for the Bucks game. Jackson maybe back for the Nets.

The Nets game will be huge. We really need this one. I expect to see all star version of Austin while LeBron is out. He seems to always come up big when we are missing a star.

Fortunately we have built somewhat of a cushion so even if we drop to the 5th seed while LeBron is out, we will have time to regain some ground once he returns.

By the way, the nuggets play OKC back to back in OKC. Go Thunder!

It will be a challenge but if we get Rui and Jax back we could at least go 2-2 on this trip.

Go Lakers!