Marc Gasol showed he still has a lot to offer stepping into the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Lakers in the absence of Andre Drummond against the Boston Celtics.
L.A. lost the Thursday night game, 121-113, despite the impressive but short-lived fourth-quarter comeback inspired by the team’s second unit. Gasol made the headlines himself registering a season-high 18 points shooting 4-for-6 from behind the 3-point line, spending just under 21 minutes on the floor.
The 36-year-old center put up the impressive numbers even though he suffered a ligament fracture in his finger during the game. However, Gasol said shortcomings on the defensive end canceled out the Lakers’ hard work offensively.
“We were attacking what they were giving us on the offensive, but we didn’t get enough stops,” he said. “They were too comfortable on offense. They were getting to the spots they wanted.
“We were not physical enough and when we got them to miss, we didn’t either box out or take advantage of those misses translating to easier points offensively. I thought that we got good shots for most of the night, but we just were not getting enough stops.”
The Lakers gave up the most points since the 128-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on March 23. Each Celtics starter finished the night in double digits including Jaylen Brown, who erupted for 40 points scoring 17-for-20 from the field.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel called Brown’s performance “remarkable” in a post-match interview.
Davis ‘unlikely’ to play against Jazz, but his cameo ‘no out of question’
Despite the loss to the Celtics, L.A. still had reasons to smile after Vogel revealed Anthony Davis has been cleared for full on-court activity. The 28-year-old All-Star even managed to get some pregame buckets ahead of the clash.
Vogel emphasized the importance of patience in reintroducing Davis to the rotation. But he didn’t rule out the possibility of the forward making a cameo over the upcoming double-header against the Utah Jazz.
“All the court work he’s been doing to this point has been to get him to be fully cleared to participate in full practice, so obviously he’s not playing tonight, it’s unlikely in the two Utah [Jazz] games, but not out of the question,” Vogel said.
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