Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Jayson Tatum and the Celtics are too much for Lakers

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

Jayson Tatum had a game-high 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, and Jaylen Brown added 31 points as the Boston Celtics snapped the Lakers' 8-game winning streak, beating the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 111-101. Luka Doncic had a team-high 34 points, and LeBron James added 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists before leaving for the locker room early in the 4th quarter with a groin injury.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reeves, Dalton Knecht, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors!FAN DUEL• When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started—and there’s no better place to get in on it than FanDuel, America’s Number ONE Sportsbook!• With FanDuel, you can place live bets throughout the game, so even if you miss the opening tip-off or want to bet on a fourth-quarter comeback, you can stay in the action. And if you’re looking for a bigger payout, you can even combine your live bets into a Same Game Parlay.• Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! Just visit FANDUEL DOT COM to join today. That’s FANDUEL DOT COM for your shot at ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets.• Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. PRIZE PICKS• Now’s the perfect time to join. Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONNBA to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup! That’s right—no need to win to get the bonus, it’s guaranteed. PrizePicks—Run Your Game! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a Locked-on Lakers Postcast, part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, the Lakers come out red hot. The Celtics dominate the third quarter and the Celtics show the Lakers where they are world champions. We talk about it all on the Lockdown Lakers postcast. I'm Dave Pallet, again, 30-year vet, Southern California broadcaster, a huge Laker fan. And again, the joy of my broadcasting career was covering the Lakers during the good time is in the 90s and the 2000s with Kobe and check. And of course, right now I'm enjoying my time with you as we're talking

Laker basketball after these games, even though tonight's not one of those nights, we feel so great because we saw the Lakers eight game winning street come to an end. Lakers lose 11-101 101 to the Boston Celtics. This episode is brought to by Fandul. Right now, Fandle customers can get $150 a bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. All right. disappointing night for the Lakers and overall for Laker fans, we expected so much more. Again, you can get this show and you can get every Laker show that we have in Locked-on.

We can get them anywhere you get your podcasts, also YouTube, you name it. Basically, we're available all the time. So if you want Brian and Andy, who will give you Laker Talk every single day, those guys are available for you. And again, I'm here for your postcast. But Lakers lose tonight, 11, 101. We'll break the game down. We'll start from where we thought things went wrong. and what the Lakers need to do to get better.

Also, there's an entry to LeBron James that we hope he doesn't miss much time. As we talked about in the last show, getting Austin Reeves back and getting this team in a position where they can basically get with Luca, get with Austin Reeves, get with LeBron, get Rui back, get Jackson Hayes, who's now out, get him back, get the guys that are going to be on the court the most to get them polished, ready to go for the postseason, to get them ready to show that they are a championship caliber team.

So this Laker team tonight, again, we find out Jackson Hayes isn't playing. Vanderbilt's the one who jumps in and he gets a chance to play for the Lakers as a starter, which is something we never see. At the same time, he added a spark. And he was great defensively, just like he always is. But for the Lakers, it wasn't enough. And Jackson Hayes, as much as he's not an offensive threat, he is a rim protector. The one thing about Boston, you really don't need a bunch of rim protectors

when you're facing a team like the Celtics who basically live, off the three point shot. So, you know, you're starting lineup. As I said, you had Vanderbilt, you had Dorian Finney Smith, who's playing for Rui in the starting lineup. You had Boston Reeves, LeBron, and Luca. And it was interesting the way the game started because Luca really wasn't that involved in the first quarter.

As a matter of fact, it didn't seem like Luca was into the game, not saying that he wasn't into the game, but just either it didn't seem like the game plan, which is weird, which I don't believe that's the case, or the same type of energy. Just wasn't there. We've seen from the Lakers during this eight game winning, streak. So overall with the Lakers, they got up to a good start like they've been doing in the first quarter. Lakers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. At one point, they led 12-4. Celtics called a timeout.

Lakers were holding a 14-6 advantage when this happened. The timeout worked for Boston. They made really a couple three-pointers in a row, and next thing you know, the score is 2017. Both teams were shooting extremely well. The first quarter felt like NBA finals. I mean, it was fast. It was physical. was a different level of basketball, much like the game we saw the other night when the Lakers faced the New York Knicks. It felt like playoff basketball. This definitely felt like playoff basketball, NBA finals basketball. And the officials let them go. I mean, there was a lot of banging around and really players on both sides were complaining, saying, man, this thing is, you know, a situation where I'm getting hit every time I have the ball. And I think every single

guy on the four was basically getting hit. There was a major contact. And we spoke about this on Thursday night after the next game, the NBA can only push this so far, in my opinion, because what's going to happen is eventually you're going to have serious injuries to someone that's a star player and this league's about stars or you're going to have fights, which is the worst thing ever to happen to the NBA. When we all remember the malice at the palace, they don't want that. They want to get away from the days where guys are fighting. And when you keep letting these guys go and they're pushing each other, it's only a matter of

time. If it's physical now in the regular season and you want to have to have. the playoffs be much like it is during the regular season, so there are no surprises. It was a lot more at stake. All of a sudden, I think you're going to see the temper start to come out. Again, I'm not the one that decides it, but it's, to me, it's a dangerous game. The NBA plays, especially when you look at the payrolls and the salaries of what your superstars make.

All it takes is for a superstar to be out because the officials let them go. Don't want to sound like a crybaby because my friends who are Saltuk fans writing me in the entire night, LeBron's a cry baby. be. Unlike LeBron's 40 years old, almost has a triple double in the first half. So I disagree with that. I'm just saying it's a matter as far as the strength of your league. Celtics eventually tied the game at 23 on an Alhorford dunk, 159 remaining in the first quarter. Celtics took a 27, 26 lead after two Luca turnovers. Kind of to my point that Luca, we know as turnovers, but the laziness of the turnovers was disappointing. Lakers shot 56 percent. The first quarter, 50 percent from a three-point

range six to 12 we'll take that Celtics shot 54% from the field 67% from three point range they made six of nine lakers were led in the quarter by doy and fanny smith eight points and really kind of went quite offensively after that lebron james six Jordan goodwin had six off the bench look at four and 10 minutes but the Celtics were led by jason tatams 13 jalen brown 10 now if you remember the first time these two teams met in january the Celtics basically got run right out of crypto and the reason i always thought was that Jason Tatum, kind of too much of a slow starter. Jason Tatum was extremely active. And Jason Tatum is really, really good.

And it's one of those if you're like me and you look back at old drafts and you go, where did this guy go? And we all know the Lakers could have had Jason Tatum, but they decided to go another direction. Jason Tatum would have been a perfect Laker, right? Love Kobe Bryant, grew up a huge Laker fan. And often you see him wearing the purple wristband when he's playing for the Celtics because of his love for Kobe and his love for the Lakers.

but Jason Tatum showed why he is one of the best players in the NBA. Jalen Brown had 10 as well in the first quarter for Boston. So out of the 33 points, Jason Tatum and Brown had 23 of those 33 in the first quarter. Rebound, Celtics out rebound to the Lakers, 119 assists. Celtics had more assists, 11 to 10, bench points. Lakers, they thrive. Lakers had 10 bench points. Celtics only had zero.

Turnovers. Lakers had two. too. So our turnover battle, we're doing pretty good right there. Second quarter, Celtics, they outscored the Lakers 25-21. We always talk about the Lakers wanting to get to at least 30 points a quarter. Well, they get that knocked down to 21 and you're going, okay, what's happening here? The Celtics making adjustments or the Lakers shots just not falling. Lakers took a 43, 42 lead on a Luca three-pointer and halfway through the second quarter,

LeBron almost had a triple double at this point. I mean, he was doing great outside of missing a bunch of free throws. LeBron was doing great. He had eight points. He had eight rebounds. He had seven assists. LeBron was over three from the line. But basically halfway through the second quarter, he was on his way to a triple double, a triple double that just never happened. At the half, the Celtics, they take a 58, 54 lead. And so the Lakers are down. We all know the Lakers have that crazy stat when leading at the half. Well, the Lakers weren't leading at the half in this one. And that basically was one of those who were saying, okay, we're playing catch up tonight. That's basically what the Lakers are. going to end up doing. Lakers will end up playing catch-up and see where things go from there. But for this Laker team, it was a disappointing first half of the fact they had a big lead, they had all the momentum, and then all of a sudden the Lakers basically fall on their face and things don't go their way. And the Boston Celtics do what Boston does. I mean, we always talk about

how the Western Conference is that much better than the East. And yet for the Lakers, they didn't play well with the Boston. I mean, it was kind of, I think, a true test to see what would happen if they got up in the NBA finals. Now, we know the Lakers dominated the Celtics the first time at Crypto, as we said earlier, but in Boston, primetime game, the Celtics played fantastic basketball. And we'll talk about where this game turned. But overall, this was not the performance I think the Lakers wanted. And then to find out later on, there's a serious injury that the Lakers now, you're talking about losing more guys who are starters, more guys that you expect to get big time minutes to help carry this team. We'll get into that as far as what happened in the second half with this team in just a second.

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Prize picks run your game. All right. So where are the Lakers and what do they do as far as second half time and how do things go from there and where were the Lakers going to go. Also, what your comments throughout the show as well. Curious to know what you saw. What did you see as far as the Lakers, the Lakers future, the Boston Celtics, how do they match up? What frustrates you right now about this Laker team and where do they need to get better? Because the season's coming to an end. The Lakers obviously have a game coming up against the Nets, a team they should take care of. But we've seen the Lakers lose to teams that they should basically win.

And then all of a sudden they fall on the wrong side of things. They got them a while. Milwaukee Bucks coming up this week. It's a busy and important week for the Lakers. Now, the half was we told the Celtics, they were leading 58-54. And again, this is about as good as it got for the Lakers because things got really ugly in the third. The Laker shot 48%, 40%, from three-point range, 8 of 20. We'll take that. Free throw is very frustrating. Lakers, again, I don't know what the issue is on why this Laker team, number one, always leads in turnovers and free throws. It's hit and miss. You just don't know what you're going to get, game in and game out. which is scary because it would stink to lose a big-time playoff game or an NBA finals game

because you can't hit your free throws. It just, it's the same distance. It is since these guys are growing up. And these guys who have nothing to do but be NBA players that can't make their free throws is incredible. Celtics shot 48% from the field in the first half, 41% from three-point range. There are nine of 22. It's what the Celtics do. Celtics do great from three-point range.

And free throws, believe it or not, the Celtics stunk too. Celtics at home on their goals were three of six. They're shooting 50% as well. At the half, LeBron James had a tremendous first half. 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists. Luca had 11. Austin Reeves had nine. Dorian Finney Smith. Again, stayed at eight, but he had eight points. Celtics were led by Jason Tatum's 22 at the half. Jalen Brown. He had 16 rebounds.

Celtics still held advantage, 24, 22. Assists. Celtics held the advantage, 15 to 13. Bench points. Lakers had 10 in the first quarter didn't do anything in the second quarter with that bench. Celtics, who had zero, ended up with five in the first half and turnovers. Lakers, of course, they lose the turnover battle. Like they do every single game. Lakers had five. Boston Celtics had four. Again, Lakers not leading at the half. That's always the stat we talked about because the Lakers are unique when leading at the half. They're 36 and 5 on the season, but they weren't leading at the half. So the stat kind of goes right out the window for this team. Third quarter, this is where,

things fell apart and this is where you might have turned the broadcast off if you're a Laker fan. Things got ugly really, really quick and the Lakers didn't have an answer for it. There's nothing the Lakers could do. It might have been the worst quarter of the entire season for the Lakers as far as what happened in the third. And again, nationally televised game, shots weren't falling, just nothing was working. I mean, it made you think about everything that goes wrong in Boston over all those years when

the Lakers take on the Celtics. You think about the leprecha sitting on the rim and knocking the ball away, but nothing would fall for the Lakers. Lakers came out flat to start the third quarter. Boston outscored to them to start the quarter 10 to 2. Celtics increased their lead to 15 on Derek White's layup after a LeBron turnover. Sultzkus opened up a 19 point lead on Jalen Brown's corner three. The Lakers were held to just two points, two points in the first six minutes of the third quarter. That's amazing for an NBA game, let alone the Lakers with all these stars and future Hall of Famers, you're going, how does that happen to be held as two? Celtics outscored the Lakers.

19 to 2 to start the third quarter has had ended up. Given the Celtics a 77, 56 advantage. Lucas scored nine points for the Lakers in the quarter. He was the only one scoring. The Bron James held it just two. And so the Lakers had a terrible third quarter outscored in the quarter, 29 to 13. 13 points.

The goal is to get 30 for this team, and they got 13 points in the third quarter. Whatever the halftime speech was by JJ Reddick, throw it right out the window. Never go back to that halftime speech again, because whatever it was, it was bad luck, it didn't work. Fourth quarter, if you hung around like I did, you watch the Lakers make a run.

And you're sitting and going, okay, this Laker team is a little bit different. Right when I thought I was going to give up on this team and not believe what this Laker team could do, Lakers cut the lead down to 92-85. And it's going, wait a second. We're within reach. 506 remaining in the game. Lakers cut the lead down to 9692 on Luca free throws.

and then the bad news, we get worded that LeBron's not coming back. LeBron isn't coming back for the remainder of the game because he's a groin injury, wasn't able to play basically the entire fourth quarter, and because the Lakers play against the Nets on Monday, you're going to expect to not see LeBron James in the lineup as well. So the Lakers end up losing this 11-101, 101. LeBron James is hurt. We don't know how long he's going to be hurt.

Again, it's a game against the Nets that the Lakers should win on Monday, but then they have the Milwaukee Bucks later on in the week in Milwaukee. That's going to be tough as well. And you want to see the Lakers get that. You don't want to see the Lakers start this road trip out, losing two of the first three games. And so now we're waiting to see. What is the story with LeBron? We just got Austin and Reeves back.

Jackson Hayes isn't able to go. Rui isn't able to go. And now LeBron might not be able to go. Now, the good thing is this roster is pretty deep. The bad news is it's LeBron James. I mean, he is the backbone of your franchise. Luca's just getting his feet underneath him, just getting his win. But I'm sure Luca can step in on Monday, and Luke can get his 38 points and carry this team the best they can.

Austin Reeves expect him to have a big game because Austin Reeves always, when he gets more touches, things go well. Maybe Dalton Connect has a big game, Gabe Vincent, other guys you can name, but you can pull that off for a game, maybe two games. But after a while, it's going to show. If you don't have LeBron James, it's just a different team. but just a different team, and it's one of those situations where you're kind of scared to see what's next for the Lakers. But the Lakers losing 11-101, 101, and so many things you can look at, but basically it all comes down to the third quarter. They're just basically being run right out of the arena. And if the Lakers would have just played a little bit better in the third quarter,

not are the Lakers in this game. Lakers are winning this game. And it don't want to sound like a fan that is, man, you're such a homer for this Laker team. But come on, you just got smoked in the third quarter. often do you see that that a team basically, you know, crushes someone 29 to 13. If the Lakers would have just been outscored by nine, the Lakers feel, it feels like a different game. You know, if the Lakers make their free throws, it feels like a different game. And so very frustrating. And with all the talk that it was going to be the two superstars of the Lakers, LeBron and Luca,

that carried this team, it was the two superstars for the Celtics that carried the team. And that was the big story right there. It was Jason Tatum, it was Jalen Brown, combined for 71 points, 71 over the 111 of the Boston Celtics. And those guys are great. Those guys are great. Jalen Brown obviously wasn't on the Olympic team this past summer, but it was one of those where you could see the argument of how was he not on that team. And Jalen Brown's an outstanding player, NBA Finals, MVP.

There's nothing about Jalen Brown's game or even as a person that I dislike. I mean, he's the kind of guy, you know, very smart. They say he's the smartest guy IQ-wise in the NBA. You went to Cal. He's supposed to be extremely bright. Doesn't mess around. He plays extremely hard. Defensively was outstanding, offensively outstanding.

And most of us have watched Jason Tatum for years from his time at Duke to, of course, we go back and think, could the Lakers once have drafted him? And they didn't take advantage of it. But Jason Tatum was a different player tonight than he was in their first meeting at Crypto, where really came out kind of slow and let the game come to him instead of him, taking control of the game.

And that's, I think, for the Boston Celtics fans, they know this team goes around Jason Tatum. And if Jason Tatum wants to dictate the tempo of the game, the tempo of his game, that Celtics team is going to be much better. So again, the defending world champions, right now you look at that Boston Celtics team and say, you know, it doesn't look like they're going anywhere because they're extremely dangerous and we can see why the Celtics are as good as they are and why odds are Celtics are going to repeat.

Before I get to your comments, I want to mention the people over at Fandul once again. Again, fan duel, when the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started and there's no better place to get on on the action than with FanDuel, America's number one sports book. With FanDuel, you can place live bets throughout the game. So even if you miss the opening tip off, or you want to bet on a fourth quarter comeback, you can stay in the action. And if you're looking for bigger payout, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay. Example, if you love losing Fan Duel's betting features, because it's the moment of the excitement of the game. It keeps you involved with. whether you're back in your favorite team late or you're looking for a rally,

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before we dig deeper into this box score and see what's next for the Lakers as well. Are you frustrated with the way the game went tonight? Did you think this Laker team was better than what you saw tonight and kind of disappointed a little bit? So that was an eight-game win streak, but when you're facing the best of the best, you didn't compete the way you thought you were going to be

or you're saying it's just one night after a long day of travel that the Lakers are going to be okay and there's no reason to panic. I kind of want to know what you think about this Laker team heading towards the postseason because the postseason is basically five to six weeks away, and we're going to see it for real where every single game, you're biting your fingernails and you're wondering how far can this team go. So again, I appreciate you guys joining me on a Saturday night. It's always great when the Lakers are doing national television games,

and the Lakers have always played well in these games this season. Craig, good to see. It says their stars outperform our stars. Man, that hurts to say, Craig, but you're absolutely right. I mean, right? We love Luke and we love LeBron, but Jason and Jalen, they outplayed us. They did, you know. Craig says, why don't we play a center tonight? I think a lot of it had to do with the idea that the Celtics are a team that loves to shoot the threes and they decided to go smaller and quicker. And that was, I think, their goal right there, go smaller and quicker. And for the Lakers and J.J. Reddick, really, J.J. Reddick has been, has done a fantastic job as far as moving the right pieces in and out has done a really good job with this. team. So overall, when you look at what the Lakers try to do, I don't think it was as big of a problem

as the shots didn't fall. Craig, Craig, I love actually all your comments here. Morris should have played. You know, I'm a Morris fan, especially in a physical game. I'm a fan. You know, I'm one of those, like, if you're going to give it to us, we're going to give it to you. And you never want to be part of the team that doesn't play hard or doesn't match when things are physical. Even if you are over physical, let's say. Let's say you're a guy that gets three or four quick fouls. Look, there's no limit, basically, on how physical those fouls are unless, you know, you're a fool and you get a tactical for it because it looks malicious. But Morris is one of those guys.

You know, Morris is one of those guys that kind of, as you say, you know, in hockey, kind of the enforcer, put it in mind in this game to see Morris on the court. I'm with you. I'm with you. And so, again, it's frustrating, you know. Flying back to these coasts affected them. It could have. I mean, I don't know how many of you guys have done it. And I know they fly a lot more comfortable than we do. But I'm one of those guys that when I fly back to these coasts.

I do. I don't rebound well, you know. And it's funny. I was just watching this whole deal on the Dodgers. They hired all these sleep therapists to tell them how to beat jet lag. I understand it's only a five-hour flight. But, man, you played really one of your most exhausting games of the season on Thursday against the New York Knicks. Now you're going to Boston on a five-hour flight.

it's a long flight. A couple years ago, I made the trip. I flew from Southern California to Boston. I got in early and I was like ready to go. I've never been to Boston in my life. Number one, overrated city. If you've never been to Boston, it is crazy small. I mean, it's weird.

Boston, you can walk from one end of the city to the other end in the city in three hours. It's not L.A., it's not New York. It's not Chicago. I was really surprised how small Boston was. but when the plane landed and I got there and I think I walked into a Dunkin' Donuts because that's what everyone else seems to do. And I was beat. I was beat after about one hour and a half.

And I walked into the library at Harvard because that's closest where my hotel was. And I fell asleep on a chair. And I think I was there for about four hours. And then I got the tap on the shoulder. Hey, you got to get out of here. You can't sleep in here. And so I literally told people, I went to Harvard and I got kicked out. that's kind of the way it went.

But like, I'm not an NBA player, but I was exhausted. I don't want to, you know, excuses on those, man, maybe it's real. We see our NFL teams go East Coast all the time and seem like they can't play at 10 a.m. in the morning, but for this Laker team, who knows, you know, the shots weren't falling the third. And I can't explain why they weren't falling. It was just extremely, extremely frustrating to see. BC says it was embarrassing, you know, as far as, you know, what happened with Horford, who, you know, actually played an outstanding year.

game. You got that old man out there, has been in the league forever. We got an old man, too, and we're amazed by him. Horford's not LeBron, but then he played a great game. If you're a Boston Celtics fan, Hackney, I love the way he played tonight. Is that Aggie Pride for Life says Luca can't beat the Celtics in seven. That's why he's in L.A. You know, I'm not throwing the towel in. I'm not saying this team can't win. I think this team can win. Again, I think the big thing for for the lakers is they need to get their guys who are going to be the ones who get the most minutes playing the most and they need time i mean that's why when these injuries are happening right now we're like when are they going to catch up when are they going to figure out

what makes them play their best um you know great disappointed in in j j j's coaching and substituting again he needs to see it too j j reddick and his staff needs to see when the game's on the line and the most important parts of the game and of course you have to give luke and lebron rest which guys are going to step up and when everybody is rested and they have their win, what is the best combination in the most crucial parts?

Meaning, you know, to stop a run like we saw in the third quarter by the Boston Celtics or the fourth quarter when you need baskets and you also need defensive holds, what is the best situation for JJ Redick? Until we get everybody on the floor, we aren't going to know what it looks like

and the Lakers need time. I mean, when I say time, I would love to see at least a month of these guys having everybody at full health, I don't know if we're going to see that. I don't know if we're even going to get two weeks of that. But the Lakers are better when you have Rui in the game. You have Jackson Hayes in the game.

You have a healthy LeBron. You have healthy Austin Reeves. You have Luca. I just want to see what it looks like. I want to see what it looks like with all these guys, well-rested, getting open shots, and I thought they played as best they could. But that game was fast and that game was physical tonight, and it did not go the Lakers away.

Looking at the box score for the Lakers, The game high was Luca. Luca had 34 points and 37 minutes. Again, Luca hardly did anything in the first quarter, still ended up with 34 points. Shot 50% from the field, 11 to 22, 50% from three point range, 5, 10, 8 rebounds, only three assists. That's not very Luca-like to only have three assists, but that's what the game dictated. LeBron, again, was on his way to a triple double and didn't get it. LeBron had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists in 35 minutes.

LeBron would have got the triple double if he was able to play. the majority of the fourth quarter, but the Goring injury pulled them out. And overall, individual stats don't mean anything, but maybe with LeBron on the four, the Lakers would have had a better chance. Joy and Finney Smith with eight points in the first quarter, didn't do anything after that, didn't do anything. He finished with eight points, eight points in 36 minutes for him, four rebounds, three of eight shooting from the field, two three-pointers that he hit,

and he thought it was going to be a decent offensive night after the first quarter, but basically they just stalled. Nothing happened there. Austin Reeves, it was good to see him come back, because he had a terrible shooting night against the Knicks on Thursday, but in 39 minutes, Austin Reeves had 16 points, five of 12 from the field, four, seven, three point range, made both of his free throws.

And for the Lakers, speaking of free throws, they shot 64%, 64% free throw shooting team is not going to get it done. I don't care what quality you are. You can be the Portland Trailblazers, you can be the Utah Jazz. That number right there is a terrible number. That number is not acceptable in this league, and I'm sure JJ Redick feels the same way about it. you should feel the same way as a fan.

Laker shot 45% from the field, not bad. 35% three point range overall, not bad. I mean, for this Laker team, but if you look at it, you say, okay, they miss six free throws. That brings the score up, right? And it's a little bit closer. LeBron stays healthy.

I'm telling me it's not as bad as you think. I think the Lakers, they make their free throws. LeBron plays the entire time. It's a different feeling. If this was a seven-game series, I don't sit here and go home and say, you know, Lakers don't have a chance. I just didn't feel that way.

I understand Boston. They're missing. Christopher Zingis, but at the same time, it didn't matter if he would have played tonight. This game was all about Jason Tatum. He was the one that was going to sit there and basically make his mark. I think a couple of reasons. One is nationally televised game.

Two is he didn't play extremely well in the first matchup. And three, you can say whatever you want. If I'm Jason Tatum, I'm a little bit upset about the way the Olympics went last summer and saying there are games where I didn't play. And I'm one of the best players in this league. He made a comment a couple weeks ago about how he's ready to be the face of the NBA. And he's the only one. I mean, as great as Jason Tatum in is nobody says Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA.

Unless you're a Boston fan or a Duke fan, nobody says that. They all talk about who's the face of this league and who will it be when LeBron's gone or Steph Curry. right now Jason Tatum, they haven't said that. You've got to win a couple more titles. You've got to do some amazing things, hit some big time shots to basically win a title for Jason Tatum to get that role. But he says,

give me the crown. I want it. I'm ready to wear it. Okay. For the Lakers, again, when you look at their bench, Dalton Connect, nine points. Obviously, if you listen to the show,

I'm a big Dalton Connect fan. I wish the three-pointers would have fallen a little bit more. He was four of six shooting in 23 minutes. He just made one three-pointer and three attempts. And Jordan Goodwin, I mean, you got to love him. I mean, for the fact that he's all hustle, hits open threes, he's a guy that is a complete underdog, and yet he's getting crucial minutes for this Laker team. Gabe Vincent had a big, big night against the Knicks.

Tonight not so much. Only one of four shooting from the field and missed all three of his three-point attempts. So that was frustrating as well for this Laker team. So, yeah, as we get ready for the game on Monday against the Nets, the Lakers, you know, we want to see them win. We want to see them be in a top four spot. Of course, as the playoffs begin, the Lakers, though, with the loss today, they fall to the number three seats.

So they're still in the top four spot, but the Denver Nuggets passed them up. Lakers are 11 and a half games behind. The Thunder Nuggets are 11 back. So we're a half game back behind the Nuggets. We have the Nuggets coming up really soon again, and you can pay attention to how this thing is going to go. But the Lakers show they could beat the Nuggets a few weeks ago.

and if the Lakers played their best basketball, I honestly still believe the Lakers could play with anyone and still win the NBA championship. So that's where I'm at right now. I'm not throwing the Lakers away. I believe they still have a chance. Disappointing loss because it's the Celtics. I've been looking forward to this game for a long time.

I've been a big dinner against my neighbor because he's a Boston guy. And last thing he said to me right before tip off was Luser buys dinner and I guess I'm buying dinner. So that's going to stink. what can you do? We come out, we do it again, right? Roll the ball out there and we do it again. Best part about the NBA, major league baseball, that kind of thing. There's another game pretty quickly, and for the Lakers, their next game coming up in two days against the Nets. After that game,

I'll be here with you, and we will talk more basketball about the Lakers and the Nets, and we'll figure this whole thing out. But hopefully the Lakers get a win. Hopefully, LeBron is healthy, and he's ready to go. And if he's not healthy, hopefully he's ready to go against the Bucks. Thank you so much for joining me on a Saturday night. talking more Laker basketball with you. Again, Laker Postcast, locked on Los Angeles. And again, if you want to follow the Lakers every single day, Brian and Andy are there with you every single day.

Otherwise, my name is Dave Pallet. You can follow me on social media. And we're talking Laker basketball throughout the end of this season. Hopefully the end of the season is in June. Have a good night, everybody.