Lakers show fight against Celtics, however … – Daily News

LOS ANGELES — Scott Foster got on the mic Monday about a minute and a half before halftime of the Lakers’ 126-115 loss to the Boston Celtics and toyed with the Christmas Day crowd at Crypto.com Arena.

“After review, it was a good block by LeBron James,” the veteran official said, before pausing for dramatic effect, as if side-eyeing the whole endeavor. “However… just prior to the block by LeBron James, Taurean Prince made contact with the arm of (Jayson) Tatum, causing him to lose the ball.”

So Merry Christmas, Lakers fans. It must be fun, watching your team play in one of the NBA’s marquee holiday games so often. However… that just means you’re accustomed to seeing your team lose them – they’re 24-26 all time, and winners of just four of their past 15.

Because, yes, these Lakers of yours fashioned themselves as title contenders following last season’s Western Conference finals foray. However… at this point, they’re resting several rungs below the Celtics (23-6). And the Milwaukee Bucks (22-8). Or the defending champion Denver Nuggets (22-10 and two games behind the first-place Minnesota Timberwolves). Teams that have been healthier, yes, but who also are much more believable in the part of potential champion.

The 16-15 Lakers, losers of six of their past eight, have the talent to compete with the top teams, coach Darvin Ham reminded us postgame. And they’ve got the “workers,” and the “intelligent guys,” and “LeBron James” insisted Austin Reaves. However… they don’t have a functional starting lineup.

After four consecutive losses, Ham needed to reconfigure his starting five and did last week. Before the Lakers took on Oklahoma City, he relegated a struggling D’Angelo Russell to the bench and replaced him with Jarred Vanderbilt. And the Lakers won. However… the new opening quintet he came up with? Well, it ain’t it.

The idea, Ham said before Monday’s game, was that extra defensive energy at tip-off would help the Lakers’ cause. So, that it would jolt them out of their chronic first-quarter slumber, which has them losing the first 12 minutes, on average, by 3.9 points – worse than any NBA team (or alleged NBA team) that isn’t the Portland Trail Blazers (- 4.0) and Detroit Pistons (- 4.1).

However … this James-Vanderbilt-Prince-Anthony Davis-Cam Reddish experiment – about which Ham said he was “completely comfortable” pregame – couldn’t muster any offense Monday nor do much to slow a spry, sharp C’s team either. The Lakers got down 12-0 in a hurry, and were forced again to go into debt, expending energy playing catchup.

And there isn’t endless stores of energy this time of year, Ham said, not with a team coming off a long road trip that included a hard push for the first In-Season Tournament title. Or, he said, his group having started its day with all the energy-sapping obligations of a holiday at home.

Not with soon-to-be-39-year-old James bouncing back after hitting the deck, clutching his knee, threatening really to ruin every Lakers fan’s Christmas before returning to action to give his guys a noble fight, his knee admittedly sore and looking like it.

Of course, as predictable as a Lakers’ first-quarter deficit was, so too was their recovery. Anthony Davis dropped an enthusiastic 40 points for the 40th regular-season game in his career and the Lakers outscored Boston 34-26 in the second quarter and took the lead for the first time – 59-58 early in the third quarter – on a James layup.