Game ID: 22300403
Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers
Monday, December 25, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 23 34 33 25 115BOS 32 26 41 27 126
BOS @ LAL ScoutingBOS @ LAL Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
LAL availability going into 12/18 · 2 days' restOUT Vincent missed 22 since 11/01, out tonight
BACK Hachimura back 12/05 after 5, 26 min since (96% of 27)
LAL availability going into 12/20 · 1 day's restOUT Vincent missed 23 since 11/01, returns tonight: 14 min (78% of 18)
NEW Prince 27 to 33 min over the last 5
LAL availability going into 12/21 · back-to-backBACK Vincent back 12/20 after 23, 14 min since (78% of 18)
NEW Prince 27 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Reddish 20 to 26 min over the last 4
LAL availability going into 12/23 · 1 day's restBACK Vincent back 12/20 after 23, 14 min since (78% of 18)
NEW Prince 27 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW Reddish 20 to 29 min over the last 4
LAL availability going into 12/25 · 1 day's restOUT Vincent missed 2 since 12/21, out tonight
OUT Christie missed 2 since 12/21, out tonight
NEW Prince 27 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW Reddish 20 to 30 min over the last 4
LAL availability going into 12/28 · 2 days' restOUT Vincent missed 3 since 12/21, out tonight
OUT Wood missed 2 since 12/23, returns tonight: 23 min (134% of 17)
OUT Christie missed 3 since 12/21, returns tonight: 24 min (172% of 14)
NEW Prince 27 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW Reddish 20 to 28 min over the last 5
LAL availability going into 12/30 · 1 day's restOUT Vincent missed 4 since 12/21, out tonight
BACK Wood back 12/28 after 2, 23 min since (134% of 17)
BACK Christie back 12/28 after 3, 24 min since (172% of 14)
NEW Prince 27 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Reddish 20 to 28 min over the last 4
LAL availability going into 12/31 · back-to-backOUT Vincent missed 5 since 12/21, out tonight
BACK Wood back 12/28 after 2, 18 min since (105% of 17)
BACK Christie back 12/28 after 3, 24 min since (172% of 14)
NEW Prince 27 to 32 min over the last 5
NEW Reddish 20 to 26 min over the last 4
LAL availability going into 1/03 · 2 days' restOUT Vincent missed 6 since 12/21, out tonight
BACK Wood back 12/28 after 2, 21 min since (118% of 17)
BACK Christie back 12/28 after 3, 27 min since (190% of 14)
BOS availability going into 12/17 · 1 day's restOUT Kornet missed 2 since 12/14, out tonight
BACK Porziņģis back 12/08 after 4, 31 min since (105% of 29)
BACK Queta back 12/15 after 4, 18 min since (163% of 11)
BACK Brissett back 12/08 after 4, 8 min since (76% of 10)
BOS availability going into 12/19 · 1 day's restOUT Kornet missed 3 since 12/14, out tonight
BACK Porziņģis back 12/08 after 4, 30 min since (104% of 29)
BACK Queta back 12/15 after 4, 17 min since (155% of 11)
BACK Brissett back 12/08 after 4, 6 min since (58% of 10)
BOS availability going into 12/20 · back-to-backOUT Kornet missed 4 since 12/14, out tonight
BACK Queta back 12/15 after 4, 18 min since (165% of 11)
BACK Brissett back 12/15 after 2, 8 min since (75% of 10)
BOS availability going into 12/23 · 2 days' restOUT Kornet missed 5 since 12/14, out tonight
BACK Queta back 12/15 after 4, 19 min since (166% of 11)
BACK Brissett back 12/15 after 2, 10 min since (96% of 10)
BOS availability going into 12/25 · 1 day's restOUT Kornet missed 6 since 12/14, out tonight
BACK Queta back 12/15 after 4, 19 min since (174% of 11)
BACK Brissett back 12/15 after 2, 12 min since (112% of 10)
BOS availability going into 12/28 · 2 days' restOUT Kornet missed 7 since 12/14, out tonight
NEW Queta 11 to 17 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 12/29 · back-to-backOUT Kornet missed 8 since 12/14, returns tonight: 33 min (227% of 15)
NEW Queta 11 to 18 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 12/31 · 1 day's restBACK Kornet back 12/29 after 8, 33 min since (227% of 15)
NEW Queta 11 to 17 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 1/02 · 1 day's restBACK Kornet back 12/29 after 8, 25 min since (169% of 15)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Lakers come in 1-4 over their last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 121, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 21 free throws a game; James at 28 and Davis at 27 a game. They have lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Vincent (2 straight). One day's rest. Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 131 a night and allowing 113, shooting 49 percent and 43 from three, 19 free throws a game; Brown at 26 and Tatum at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-5 a night and the Lakers minus-4 and the arc, Boston at 43 percent from three to the Lakers' 36. Call it Boston 120, the Lakers 114.
12/18 vs NYK 109-114 — LAL notes
LAL lost 109-114. LAL took 11 more shots (99 to 88), but shot 42% to NYK's 48%, 13 of 41 from three, and got to the line 13 times to NYK's 23. LAL turned it over 10 times to NYK's 15. The glass went 41-52 against them. Davis led with 32 (14 of 22); James added 25, Reaves 20. Q2 was theirs, 31-22, turning a 8-point deficit into a 1-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 92-78 against them. James's -13 in 39 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/20 @ CHI 108-124 — LAL notes
LAL lost 108-124. LAL shot 45% (42 of 94) to CHI's 55%, 12 of 37 from three. James led with 25 (10 of 18, 1 of 3 from three); Reaves added 21, Davis 19. Q2 was theirs, 33-28, the deficit cut from 11 to 6, but the other 3 periods went 96-75 against them. Reaves's -22 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/21 @ MIN 111-118 — LAL notes
LAL lost 111-118. LAL shot 49% (41 of 83) to MIN's 48%, 10 of 24 from three. Davis led with 31 (11 of 20, 8 of 9 at the line); Reaves added 20, Hachimura 18. Q2 was theirs, 27-27, but the other 3 periods went 91-84 against them. Reaves's -9 in 27 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/23 @ OKC 129-120 — LAL notes
LAL won 129-120. LAL shot 52% (47 of 90) to OKC's 48%, 16 of 32 from three. James led with 40 (13 of 20, 5 of 5 from three, 9 of 9 at the line); Davis added 26, Hachimura 21. The hinge was Q2, 35-20: LAL came in trailing by 3 and left it ahead by 12, and the lead reached 26. Reddish was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
12/25 vs BOS 115-126 — LAL notes
LAL lost 115-126. LAL shot 48% (43 of 90) to BOS's 51%, 13 of 32 from three, and got to the line 21 times to BOS's 28. Davis led with 40 (15 of 26, 2 of 4 from three, 8 of 10 at the line); Prince added 17, James 16. Q2 was theirs, 34-26, the deficit cut from 9 to 1, but the other 3 periods went 100-81 against them. Prince's -12 in 39 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/28 vs CHA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Lakers come in 1-4 over their last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 120, shooting 47 percent and 39 from three, 19 free throws a game; Davis at 30 and James at 26 a game. They have lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Vincent (3 straight), Wood (2 straight). 2 days' rest. Charlotte comes in 0-5 over its last five, scoring 99 a night and allowing 122, shooting 43 percent and 24 from three, 16 free throws a game; Bridges at 18 and Rozier at 18 a game. That is 5 straight losses. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Ball (13 straight). One day's rest.
So: The Lakers win, and the game turns on the arc, the Lakers at 39 percent from three to Charlotte's 24. Call it the Lakers 119, Charlotte 110.
12/30 @ MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 115, shooting 50 percent and 40 from three, 26 free throws a game; Edwards at 31 and Towns at 18 a game. One day's rest. The Lakers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 120, shooting 50 percent and 43 from three, 19 free throws a game; Davis at 28 and James at 24 a game. Without Vincent (4 straight). One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 17 times a game to the Lakers' 12 and the line, where Minnesota takes 26 free throws a game to the Lakers' 19. Call it Minnesota 116, the Lakers 113, the Lakers keeping it close.
12/31 @ NOP — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 109, shooting 49 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Ingram at 24 and Williamson at 21 a game. Without Hawkins (3 straight). 2 days' rest. The Lakers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 117, shooting 49 percent and 43 from three, 23 free throws a game; Davis at 31 and James at 25 a game. Without Vincent (5 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: New Orleans wins, and the game turns on the arc, the Lakers at 43 percent from three to New Orleans's 36 and the defense, New Orleans allowing 109 a night to the Lakers' 117. Call it New Orleans 117, the Lakers 112.
1/03 vs MIA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Lakers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 119, shooting 49 percent and 41 from three, 23 free throws a game; Davis at 29 and James at 27 a game. Without Vincent (6 straight). 2 days' rest. Miami comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 113, shooting 46 percent and 35 from three, 31 free throws a game; Herro at 23 and Adebayo at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Martin (3 straight), Richardson (4 straight). One day's rest.
So: The Lakers win, and the game turns on the glass, where Miami has been plus-5 a night and the Lakers minus-4 and the line, where Miami takes 31 free throws a game to the Lakers' 23. Call it the Lakers 116, Miami 114, Miami keeping it close.
12/17 vs ORL 114-97 — BOS notes
BOS won 114-97. BOS shot 47% (45 of 95) to ORL's 38%, 17 of 36 from three, and got to the line 8 times to ORL's 24. BOS turned it over 14 times to ORL's 8. The glass went 55-43 for them. Brown led with 31 (12 of 20, 5 of 8 from three); Tatum added 23, Porziņģis 15. The hinge was Q2, 34-19: BOS came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 11, and the lead reached 23. Horford was the night's best plus/minus at +19.
12/19 @ GSW 126-132 — BOS notes
BOS lost 126-132 in 1 overtime. BOS shot 41% (47 of 114) to GSW's 46%, 17 of 58 from three. White led with 30 (11 of 24, 7 of 18 from three); Brown added 28, Tatum 15. Q1 was theirs, 40-30, but the other 4 periods went 102-86 against them. They led by as many as 17.
12/20 @ SAC 144-119 — BOS notes
BOS won 144-119. BOS shot 55% (51 of 92) to SAC's 47%, 22 of 42 from three. The glass went 50-37 for them. White led with 28 (10 of 13, 6 of 9 from three); Brown added 28, Porziņģis 24. The hinge was Q3, 39-24: a lead of 8 became 23, and the lead reached 30. Hauser was the night's best plus/minus at +24.
12/23 @ LAC 145-108 — BOS notes
BOS won 145-108. BOS shot 52% (49 of 94) to LAC's 46%, 25 of 53 from three, and went to the line 28 times to LAC's 15 — 22 points from the stripe to their 15. The glass went 51-34 for them. Tatum led with 30 (9 of 16, 5 of 10 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Brown added 24, Holiday 20. The hinge was Q4, 39-27: a lead of 25 became 37. Brown was the night's best plus/minus at +29.
12/25 @ LAL 126-115 — BOS notes
BOS won 126-115. BOS shot 51% (46 of 91) to LAL's 48%, 13 of 42 from three, and went to the line 28 times to LAL's 21 — 21 points from the stripe to their 16. Porziņģis led with 28 (11 of 19, 2 of 8 from three, 4 of 7 at the line); Tatum added 25, Brown 19. The hinge was Q1, 32-23: from level to 9 ahead, and the lead reached 18. Porziņģis was the night's best plus/minus at +16.
12/28 vs DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 131 a night and allowing 114, shooting 49 percent and 41 from three, 21 free throws a game; Brown at 26 and Tatum at 23 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 8 a night. 2 days' rest. Detroit comes in 0-5 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 128, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 27 free throws a game; Cunningham at 32 and Bogdanović at 20 a game. That is 5 straight losses. Without Hayes (4 straight), Livers (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-8 a night and Detroit minus-2 and the defense, Boston allowing 114 a night to Detroit's 128. Call it Boston 126, Detroit 111, Boston by 15.
12/29 vs TOR — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 134 a night and allowing 119, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 24 free throws a game; Porziņģis at 29 and Tatum at 25 a game. That is 4 straight wins. Second night of a back-to-back. Toronto comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 112, shooting 50 percent and 34 from three, 20 free throws a game; Siakam at 23 and Barnes at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. Without Freeman-Liberty (28 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Toronto giving it away 14 times a game to Boston's 9 and the defense, Toronto allowing 112 a night to Boston's 119. Call it Boston 121, Toronto 114.
12/31 @ SAS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
San Antonio comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 125, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Johnson at 18 and Vassell at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest. Boston comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 133 a night and allowing 116, shooting 51 percent and 41 from three, 25 free throws a game; Porziņģis at 29 and Tatum at 29 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-6 a night and San Antonio minus-6 and the defense, Boston allowing 116 a night to San Antonio's 125. Call it Boston 124, San Antonio 115.
1/02 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 111, shooting 53 percent and 42 from three, 19 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 34 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. That is 4 straight wins. One day's rest. Boston comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 131 a night and allowing 113, shooting 51 percent and 38 from three, 25 free throws a game; Tatum at 28 and Porziņģis at 26 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-7 a night and OKC minus-1 and the line, where Boston takes 25 free throws a game to OKC's 19. Call it OKC 119, Boston 118, Boston keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
BOSAH A. Horford
DW D. White
JB J. Brown
JH J. Holiday
JT J. Tatum
KP K. Porziņģis
NQ N. Queta
PP P. Pritchard
PO Porzingis
SH S. Hauser
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
CR C. Reddish
DR D. Russell
JH J. Hayes
JV J. Vanderbilt
LJ L. James
RH R. Hachimura
TP T. Prince
BOS/LAL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Porzingis, Celtics start strong in 126-115 Christmas Day win over Davis, Lakers
LOS ANGELES -- — The Boston Celtics were happy to share on Christmas Day, and it propelled them to a historic holiday against the Los Angeles Lakers .
Led by Kristaps Porzingis with 28 points and 11 rebounds, all five starters had at least 18 points for the Celtics in a 126-115 win over the Lakers on Monday.
Jayson Tatum added 25 points, Jaylen Brown had 19 points and Derrick White chipped in with 18 points and 11 assists for Boston, which has won three straight and 12 of their past 14.
“Honestly, we all know that if we push the pace one of us is gonna get a shot. And I feel like when we have that energy and you know if I run to my spot and I run to my lanes I’m gonna get the ball, it just makes everybody do it and do it that much harder,” said Jrue Holiday , who had 18 points and seven assists.
Anthony Davis scored a game-high 40 points with 13 rebounds, LeBron James had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but the Lakers have dropped six of eight since winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament.
“I don’t think we’re healthy right now. I don’t think we’re where we want to be to compete versus the top teams until we continue to get better and better, continue to work out habits,” James said. “For us, we’re still trying to figure our situation out as far as how we want to continue to attack each game, but we’ll get better.”
It was the third game on Christmas Day between the two most storied franchises in the league. The Minneapolis Lakers won in Boston in 1951, and Los Angeles was victorious in 2008.
The Celtics ran right over the Lakers’ starting lineup, scoring the first 12 points capped by a 3-pointer from Brown, and would lead by as many as 18 in the first quarter.
After trailing for the only time in the game early in the third quarter when Jarred Vanderbilt threw down a dunk, Boston ripped off seven straight points to regain the lead.
Boston successfully kept Los Angeles at arm’s length in the final quarter, despite Davis hitting the 40-point mark for the 40th time in a regular season game.
Every Boston starter had at least four points in the opening quarter and did it again in the fourth. As Porzingis noted, with some better shooting from 3, it could have been an even more emphatic victory. The Celtics ended up 13 of 42 (31%) from 3.
“Very happy about the game we had as a team,” Porzingis said. “And honestly we played really good basketball. We just did not make or we did not shoot what we normally shoot from outside. But other than that, I think we played really well.”
For the Lakers, there were too many mistakes elsewhere to take advantage of a rare instance where they were the better team from long range, shooting 40.6% from 3 (13 of 32).
Coach Darvin Ham ran off a list of errors nearly as long as Santa’s, the details he said Los Angeles cannot afford to get bored with if it wants to compete for a championship at the end of the season. They ranged from transition defense to rebounding to turnovers.
Davis brought up one of his missed free throws in the decisive third quarter as a little mistake that made a big difference.
“You always think about shots you could have made, defensive plays you could have made, rebounds you could have had, free throws I could have made, things like that that could have changed the game,” Davis said. “I missed a free throw in the third quarter and they end up getting a fast-break 3, and all I was thinking was if I make the free throw, that doesn’t happen.”
Both teams got a scare when Brown and James were shaken up in a collision with 4:02 left in the second. Brown was cutting back to the ball when he took a bad step and pulled up, leading to James kneeing him in the back. Each player was attended to on the court, with Brown going back to the locker room before returning to start the third quarter.