The Los Angeles Lakers snapped a seven-game losing streak on Sunday night in a 118-111 win over their rival Boston Celtics in overtime last night. It was clear the rivalry still ran just as deep as it did back in the 1980’s for Lakers head coach Byron Scott, who had a much longer than normal pre-game chat with his team before the game. Scott promised his team that if any player was not in the correct spot during the game, he would immediately find a place for him on the bench.
It definitely got our attention before the game,” Jeremy Lin said of Scott’s pre-game meeting. “Usually they finish their pre-game stuff by about 30 minutes before the game, but this one went much over. He (Scott) definitely got our attention and I thought the team responded. I thought the team was challenged and the team responded.”
When asked about his threat to sit anyone who was not in the right spot during the game, Scott said he thought he’d been patient enough, after five months coaching these players. Scott said he was very happy with the team’s effort, focus and toughness against the Boston Celtics and hopes it can carry over to Wednesday’s game in Utah.
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Jeremy Lin finished Sunday night with a season-high 25-point performance. His confidence and aggressiveness on offense was something Scott said he’d been waiting to see all season.
He was aggressive. He made some good decisions, made a couple mistakes on both ends of the floor,” Scott said about Lin’s performance. “Overall, I thought his decision making and his aggressiveness on the offensive end was great and he did some good things on the defensive end last night. It seemed like he had a world of confidence.”
Nick Young did not practice on Monday, due to swelling of his left knee. Robert Sacre, who attempted to practice on Monday, ended up sitting out of practice with a sore left foot. Both had MRI’s on Monday, which came back negative for anything serious and Lakers are listing them as questionable for Wednesday’s game. If Sacre is cleared for Wednesday, Scott says as of right now, he would like to stick with the same starting lineup of Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly, Carlos Boozer and Robert Sacre against the Utah Jazz.
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