Boston Celtics Escape Lakers Despite Injuries

The Boston Celtics needed every bit of Aron Baynes to escape the Los Angeles Lakers with Horford and Tatum sidelined.

The Boston Celtics went into their game against the Los Angeles Lakers knowing that Al Horford would be sidelined in the concussion protocol. Considering the competition, the Celtics knew they should still have no problem winnings. For the start of the game, it looked like the Celtics would have no problem, as the lead broke 20 points.

Then things broke down. Julius Randle brought a spark off the bench, and the next injury came along. Jayson Tatum went to the locker room and did not return. The Celtics lost their energy, and were not hitting anymore outside shots.

The Lakers fought back and kept the game within single digits for a while. The Lakers gave themselves a chance to close the game out late, but Aron Baynes was having none of that.

Kyrie Irving had some spectacular plays, and Marcus Smart was clutch down the stretch as usual, but it was Baynes that made sure the Lakers never took that lead. He hit his career high in points, and actually led the Celtics in scoring. He made plays down the stretch on both ends, and was the exact presence they needed with their front court depleted.

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Once again, the Celtics won a game where they did not play at a level that should be winning games. They shot under 40 percent overall and under 25 percent from three. They were not generating enough open looks, and they were not hitting the ones they were getting. Irving made plays when he had to, but Baynes was the only one who brought consistent reliability.

The Celtics have seen a lot of obscure players save them on this 10 game winning streak, and it is showing everyone how deep this team can be. Just escaping the Lakers is nothing for the Celtics to be proud of, but the bottom line is that they are finding ways to win games, no matter what kind of performance they are getting from any players.

The Celtics did not even get their usual advantage on the inside. They finished even in the rebounding battle, and they needed their bench to get an advantage to keep a much weaker Lakers team at bay.

The Celtics know they have to be better than this. With concussions, we never know how long it will take to recover. Hopefully Tatum will not miss anymore time, but this win streak will not last much longer if they repeat they way they played against the Lakers.

If they did not go up against team that could do nothing from three point range, missed all kinds of easy layups and committed far too many pointless turnovers, then they do not get this victory. Even with Horford and Tatum going down, there is no excuse for the Celtics to fall off a cliff they way they did against the Lakers, and that makes this their luckiest victory of the season.

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It always feels good to beat the Lakers, and the team now realizes that things will be a lot harder with Horford sidelined. The good news is that Brad Stevens has shown time and time again that he gets his teams to step up during these kinds of injuries, and with how patient they were with the concussion last year, this winning streak will not survive if they do not adjust and find a way to play better without their leading big man.

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