The Lakers making a statement win over the Celtics, especially amid all the off-court noise, is exactly the kind of moment that can define a season. JJ Redick’s game plan and the team’s execution on both ends of the floor show they’re not just riding on talent but also preparing at a high level.
LeBron’s ageless dominance, coupled with AD’s steady presence, keeps this team competitive. But AD’s public call for a trade adds an interesting layer—this win might quiet the speculation temporarily, but it doesn’t erase the Lakers’ need for a true center if they want to solidify their status as contender.
Do you think they’ll move quickly to add the piece AD is asking for, or will they let this strong performance against the champs buy them more time?
By halftime, the lead had ballooned to 19 and, while LeBron brought the highlights, AD contributed with raw production.
Davis led the team in points, rebounds and minutes played. The only thing left for him to do to help this franchise was to go into the stands and start selling hot dogs.
If the Lakers would’ve promised him the center he’s asking for, he might’ve even done it.
While the TNT broadcast featured vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka on the screen and displayed graphics of (awful) potential trade targets for the Lakers, the team kept working.
They withstood Boston’s surge in the third and were only beaten by four points in the quarter. In the final 12 minutes, they put an exclamation point on the contest. Davis went perfect from the field, adding six more points to his total.
LeBron, at 40 years young, looked like the most energized player on the court. With 8:29 left, he backed down Peyton Pritchard from the top of the key to the low block and finished with a shot high off the glass to extend the lead to 24 points.
The Lakers players controlled what they could control on Thursday. They beat one of the best teams in the NBA and backed up their talk regarding wanting more help by showing they are worth investing in.
An organization the scale of the Lakers is very corporate and complex. Everyone has a job to do to help produce a product that’s worthy of the name in front of the jersey.
The stars and the surrounding pieces were impressive against the Celtics and demonstrated how good they can be, even with those very same players publicly stating that another player or two is needed to reach their goals.
“I think our front office is, obviously, working,” Davis said postgame. “Rob’s been working on trying to better the team. But for us, it’s about going out there and playing. Whether something happens or not, we got to go out and compete with whatever is in this locker room, just how we did tonight.
“We’re going to be doing a [road] trip. I’m not sure what’s going to happen and I know [Rob] is always working on the phones and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, we can’t try to wait on anything. We got to go out and compete and do what we got to do to to win basketball games.”
The Lakers sent as loud a message on the court as they had off it this week. Now, the focus shifts to Pelinka and the front office to avoid making this an era of what could’ve been instead of what was.
