Boston Celtics: Defensive improvements on display in loss to Lakers

The Boston Celtics have always been known as, at least, a good defensive team under head coach Brad Stevens. This season hasn’t quite met these standards as of yet. Before Saturday’s game, the Celtics possessed the 13th ranked defense in the NBA, after a tough start to the season. In their weekend matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, however, the Celtics looked much more like their past selves on the defensive end, as they held LeBron James and co. to under 100 points as they welcomed their historic rivals to TD Garden.

Defense is what has made this organization great in recent years, and is the focal point that’ pushed the Boston Celtics deep into the postseason over the past couple of seasons. For the Celtics to continue to challenge in the east, this will have to continue. To start the season, the Celtics’ defense has been wildly inconsistent. They have had players isolating, including star man Jayson Tatum – who provides just as much on the defensive end as he does the opposite way on many occasions.

The defense is coming together for the Boston Celtics

Saturday’s matchup with the Lakers saw the Celtics lose a heartbreaking one. It would’ve been a tough one to take as All-Star guard Kemba Walker missed a good look, which was followed up with a failed lay-in attempt from big man Daniel Theis, as time expired and the Lakers stole one on Boston’s parquet floor. Luckily, this loss comes just over a month into the regular season and not in a finals series. If the Celtics have any hope of potentially playing their rivals again on the biggest stage of them all, then there are going to be plenty of adjustments to make. Defense will be the basics, and they made strides in this area in this game despite taking the loss.

The Celtics managed to hold the defending champion Lakers to just 96 points over the four quarters on Saturday night. Boston’s effort on defense was a lot better and they were able to get stops with good effect, with a real team performance on the defensive end. Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown all spent a combined time of 6:36 guarding LeBron James, as the trio limited the four-time MVP to 2-of-6 shooting during their matchups. LeBron finished the night with 7-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds, and seven assists. It was far from a dominant performance from him, and in terms of how sub-par this Celtics defense has been to start this season, this is something you’ll gladly take.

The Lakers clearly had the size advantage in this kind of matchup, but it was impressive how Smart and the Celtics’ wings were able to restrict this Lakers offense, which shot just 44.0 percent on the night. Anthony Davis had an effective night with 27 points and 14 rebounds, but the Celtics did well to restrict both superstars. Los Angeles only just won the rebound battle 45-42, as the likes of Tatum, Daniel Theis, and Robert Williams III went to work on the glass. On the night, LeBron and AD combined for half of Los Angeles’ points (48), as the Celtics held the Lakers to under triple figures.

Boston’s interior defense was perhaps where they made the most impressive jump. The Celtics have been worryingly weak inside early on this season but looked stronger against the Lakers in this area. Boston allowed just 40 points in the paint to a Los Angeles side that ranks seventh in this category. Boston’s interior defense is still on the come up, after allowing 46.9 paint points per game through their first 18 games, but there were certainly positives in Saturday’s game.

Brad Stevens’ team has a long way to go if they’re going to be talked about as a legitimate contender in conversations with the Lakers and Nets, but they know they have the talent to do this. There’s plenty to like about this Celtics side, as they’re starting to get back to full strength and will have plenty of opportunities to build towards the near future.

Marcus Smart is now sidelined after suffering a Grade one calf strain, but this shouldn’t take too long for him to recover from. Smart will be back in a couple of weeks, and the Celtics will be in a great position going forward. In the meantime, the Boston Celtics travel out west for a tricky run of games – a trying test at this point of the season.