Sun. 12/28 vs. Boston - Results Inside - Postgame comments

Lakers vs. Boston
Sunday, Dec. 28
6:30 pm
TV: FSN, NBATV
Radio: KLAC-AM 570/KWKW-AM 1330
Recap - http://www.nba.com/games/20031228/BOSLAL/recap.html
Box Score - http://www.nba.com/games/20031228/BOSLAL/boxscore.html

Celtics - 82
Lakers - 105

Lakers Sink The Celtics
Los Angeles led by as many 24 points and cruised to a 105-82 win over Boston on Sunday at STAPLES Center. Shaquille O'Neal scored 22 points to go with 16 rebounds while Derek Fisher added 15 points off the bench. The Lakers visit Seattle on Friday.



Post your comments here...

If Karl is back, we win, and if he's not, we lose.

I have to disagree. I know the Lakers were terrible last night, but Boston isn't as good as Houston. Paul Pierce will probably have a big game, and I think it'll be close even if Karl comes back, the way they're playing right now. But I don't see the Lakers losing three in a row and two consecutive at home. Also, if you really think the Lakers have already lost the playoffs, LP, you should change your sig to reflect that. Happy New Year, may the Lakers win more in 2004.

WOW !!! BIG GAME

WE WILL WIN, BUT I HOPE WELSCH WILL PLAY BIG FOR BOSTON!!!!

Is this a throwback night?

BryantDunkGiant wrote:Is this a throwback night?

Dec. 23 at Golden State Warriors
Dec. 28 vs. Boston Celtics
Feb. 5 at Philadelphia 76ers
Feb. 20 vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Yeah it is, there's the list above me of the night's where we're going retro!

I say:


Lakers: 117

C's: 97


BTW: Is the Mailman gonna be back?

Shaq Fan wrote:I say:


Lakers: 117

C's: 97


BTW: Is the Mailman gonna be back?

why do u always predict we win by 20 with either 117 or 107?

but anyway...im kinda mad that it is throwback night...it is seriously a CURSE to us! didnt we lose to minnesota when we wore those MPLS jerseys? and we lost to GOLDEN STATE with those TIGHT blue jerseys...

damn hopefully karl plays...boston jus beat phoenix on tha road...hopefully ricky davis doesnt have a BREAK OUT GAME against US with tha celts...and HOPEFULLY we can contain PIERCE...and MIKE JAMES...and that damn WELSCH guy...i can sense THESE 4 GUYS can all light us up if they run screen and rolls with shaq's man....

but we CANNOT lose 3 straight and 2 CONSECUTIVE at home! so im gonna say the lakers are goin to win this one

FabFourLakers wrote:

Shaq Fan wrote:I say:


Lakers: 117

C's: 97


BTW: Is the Mailman gonna be back?

why do u always predict we win by 20 with either 117 or 107?

Why do you even ask that?

BTW: Did the trama from your fender-bnder go away yet? How ya felling?

<sigh> No ShaqFan, the Mailman won't be there....

Boston just recently pulled off that big trade, but Ricky Davis seems to be contributing less than expected for Boston...don't be surprised to see Chris Mihm and MArk Blount getting into foul trouble by Shaq. This game may be rough since we are not the best defensively and knowing Paul Pierce's dangerous mindset Kobe may even have trouble guarding the guy, and his role "players"--Mike James, Jiri Welsch, Vin Baker--may frequently hold the hot hands..expect Vin to school Slava although the man hasn't played great consistently....however, it should be a win if we don't come to the arena already knowing that we're to win this game by the 1st quarter...Victories come with dedication, persistence, and heart--you just can't snatch them...therefore I'm gonna pull two different scores on this one.

If the Lakers listen to Phil and play like champions:
Boston 83
Lakers 111

If the Lakers play the way they did at Houston and Golden State:
Boston 98 (Don't forget that Boston is a good defensive team)
Lakers 96

Lakers 109
Celtics 81

I think the Lakers will snap out of the funk they've been in the last few weeks.

Back on track, Lakers!

These are my very first predictions, so we'll see what happens!!

I say:

Lakers 101
Boston 92

Its quite simple - we win and we own the best record in the league again, we lose and thats 3 in a row with 2 coming at home. I can't remember how long its been since we lost 2 in a row at home. Lets make this game against the C's a return to glory.

Go Lakers

we might be without Payton, who is dealing with some nagging injuries.

I'll report more on in in the daily news shortly

possibility of not having both malone and payton...
the starting lineup will most likely be Kobe, Fish, Shaq, Slava & George. Reminds me of last season..

Here's more about the injuries:
http://www.clublakers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6057

We gotta win this game(without Karl & with or without GP!), cuz 3 losses in a row - it's too much for a team, like LAL!

i dont know.. coz i get a bit worried when we have a break (like a few days) because we usually play lazy.. but i hope that they play real good coz GP and the mailman won't be there.. it will be the dynamic duo again... let's hope it works...

i love it, no payton, no malone...it'll be jus like old times...hopefully Rush gets lots of minutes tonight, and MAYBE fisher can break out of his slump cuz he will be starting tonight if payton cant play....we're gonna need big games from kobe and shaq! we REALLY need to pound it into shaq tho, look at their front line now that they dont have Battie(who could have guarded shaq alot better than anyone tha celts hvae now), McCarty, mihm, blount, and baker...none of those guys can guard him...

we juus need to contain tha truth and ricky davis, and jus keep welsch in check cuz he can get hot when left open!

Now this is what I like to see! Phil wants Kobe to be more aggresive earlier in the games...

Asked if Kobe Bryant has not brought the same level of competitiveness he has in past seasons, Jackson said: "It's too early to make a judgment on that. I think he's adjusting to his teammates and his role."

Jackson has spoken to Bryant about being more aggressive offensively at the beginning of games, especially while Malone is out and Payton is sore. Although Jackson said he "can't complain" about Bryant focusing on defense early and trying to let teammates get in the offensive flow, the Lakers expect a few Bryant scores early will help open up the interior for Shaquille O'Neal.

i have a feeling this game will be a blow-out and Kobe will be on fire!!!!

I have a bad feeling in the sense that I wanna see a blowout, I wanna see Shaq blocking the sh(t out of anything that goes near the rim. I wanna see Payton running the fast break. I wanna see Kobe penetrating and getting easy shots to catch a rhythym, then hit j after j then draw double and triple teams then dish out to Fisher who I hope is on fire and hits a three. Thats the kind of Laker game I wanna see. I wanna see Shaq eat up the boards and few offensive boards being allowed. I wanna see us blow this team out the water, catch momentum. Stop playing like chumps and play like what we are, champions!!!!!!

vs. : Ok we all would much rather have the Glove playing tonight and in the starting line up, but since he is injured then there is a good chance he won't play tonight and if he does play he won't be 100%. So if he does play, this is a pretty easy matchup for Payton; James is just a rookie and if he is guarded then he won't be able to produce any points and won't do the Celtics any good. If Payton plays tonight look for him to be very passive, since he would be playing injured I doubt he would look to score much. Injured or not this matchup favors Payton.

or
vs. : This is the more likely matchup, with Payton hurt, Fisher will start and hopefully get out of his slump. Fisher will shoot early, trying to shoot himself out of his slump, if he can't score then he will try and get involved through his hustle getting steals, assists, and drawing charges...if this Fisher (the one that played so well for us during our 3 title runs) doesn't show up; then look for Phil to give Rush a lot of time tonight. Fisher is better than James, whether his shot is on or not, but hopefully he can play well for us tonight and not get discouraged if he misses some shots. Fisher will either have a great night, or a horrible one...him playing average for us won't happen.

vs. : Honestly, I think Pierce will have a great game against us. Our defense hasn't been good and he will take advantage of this. Kobe hasn't been scoring as much, and hasn't been looking to shoot. Hopefully he can get involved before the second half. For us to win, Kobe has to be in attack mode starting at tip off, if he doesn't play aggressively early on, then we might as well chalk up another loss for us. But his will be a good matchup and a fun one to watch between to of the best guards in the league. Also, look to see Davis getting some time at SG, he has started to play better with Boston, and has to be guarded. He has been getting around 24 minutes a game recently, and hopefully he won't hit any game winners against us.

vs. : George has to guard Jiri or he will kill us from downtown, they like to penetrate and dish it out to him and let him knock down the open trey, George has to prevent him from being able to get those open looks. Welsch can either be a huge part of the Celtics offense or not a factor at all, just depending on the defense that is played on him. George should have much trouble stopping him, if he sticks with him and doesn't let him get any open looks at the basket. George should be able to do decently on the offensive end, because Jiri is a better shooter than defender. George should be able to easily use his size to his advantage and back him down, shoot over him, and get rebounds over him. George's main problem will be when they bring Davis in, and move Pierce to SF, which means George will have to guard him. I doubt George will be all that successful at containing him, look for Pierce to get a lot of his points when Davis comes in.

vs. : Baker will have a good night, no question about it. Slava can shoot and make a lot of shots, but his defense is still weak. Vin has been playing great this year, and is Boston's second option. And with not much defensive opposition, he will make a lot of mid range jumpers, and close shots. He will probably also out rebound Slava. So if Slava can play decent D and make most of his shots, I will be satisfied. As long as he doesn't let Baker get a career high or anything.

vs. : Tonight's game weights very heavily on Shaq. These guys can't guard him, I don't care if all of them were on him at once...if he lets them do well then they will, it's all pretty much up to him. He let Yao do as he liked and didn't do much about it, he needs to play some defense on these guys and dominate, like we all know he can. I mean just look at who will be guarding him-Blount, Mihm, and Stewart just to name a few. I expect to see others like Baker, Perkins, and McCarty to see some time against him too, especially if they go with the hack a Shaq philosophy. If he comes in and makes crucial free throws and takes over, like he has needed to do for awhile, but hasn't then this whole hack a Shaq thing as well as our losing streak will disappear