Gameday: Celtics 87, Lakers 88

POSTGAME QUOTESMike Brown:On defeating the Celtics:

“We had a lot of guys step up and provide very good individual performances that may or may not show up in the stats sheet. Then you (can) talk about the jump ball (Kevin) Garnett and (Derek) Fisher and Pau (Gasol) making the right read and coming up with the ball on that jump ball. Andrew Bynum at the end of the game closing out, guarding a guy on the perimeter, making him swing it and then getting back and covering the rim. His ability to rebound for us, especially offensive rebounds. He had seven offensive boards and as a team 24 second-chance points in a grind it out game is something that you need to have especially when they have the advantage in fast-break points. I thought that Metta’s (World Peace) defense the whole game was very good. He hit one shot but defensively he was a presence and so he impacted the game. You talk about Pau Gasol, one of our defensive staples (and) we have three of them is to keep giving multiple effort through the rebound. That shot that Ray Allen took at the end of the game was good in my opinion. I haven’t watched the tape, but Pau did not stop playing until he heard the horn and came up with the big block. Then obviously our bench was good. Matt Barnes gave us energy and Steve Blake was terrific. Both our point guards were terrific of attacking the clock which is an offensive staple of ours. We’re trying to do a better job of getting us in our offense so that we can get to the second and third side because Boston is a very good front side defensive team, so great all-around effort.”

On if this was the best win of the year:

“I’d have to think about it but it definitely is a very good win for us on the road. I thought we were short-handed in Utah and our guys somehow found a way to win in overtime. This win also is a very good win for us on the road especially with the way Boston has been playing and not losing our composure and getting it done in overtime.”

On Pau Gasol getting more shots tonight:

“He was just aggressive. We called his number a few times, but I don’t think we called his number anymore tonight than what we have in the past. I thought our ball movement and body movement was pretty good. The ball ended up in his hands a lot especially when he plays hand-off basketball with Kobe (Bryant) or pick-and-roll basketball with Kobe because everybody wants to blitz Kobe right now. So Pau is going to have some looks on the backside. Then, I thought Pau was aggressive trying to get to the offensive glass too.”

Kobe BryantOn if this is the best win:

“Any win right now is our best win of the year. We did ok, we did well. Our execution in the 4th is still very poor in terms of what we need to accomplish. But all in all I thought it was a good defensive effort.”

On conversation with Rob Gronkowski:

I told him the Eagles need a tight end. I’m recruiting! He’s a freak athlete. He shouted at me he shouted back.

On conversation with Doc Rivers:

"I told him his son got some big kahones! He should be very proud."

On NY and Jeremy Lin:

“I know who he is but I don’t know what’s going on with that. We got to get a win. We got to go in there and play well. We’ve played extremely poorly against teams that have been undermanned so tomorrow we have to try to break that.”

Pau Gasol:On the final play:

“You just got to play until the clock runs out and that’s what I try to do because I’ve been in situations before in my career where you just freeze and you just catch yourself looking at the ball and somebody makes a play and you end up losing a game. So tonight I’m glad that I was able to continue playing until the end and play a good game for my team.”

On the height advantage:

“We are just active. They do a job on being really aggressive loading the strong side of the floor and obviously with Kobe creating so much attention sometimes they took the bodies off us and we just took advantage of that and tried to pursue the ball and get those loose balls and rebounds and put them back.”

Doc Rivers:On last play of regulation:

“I thought our execution the whole game was terrible. I thought this was an awful game, except for they won. If we had won it, it would’ve been an awful game that we had won. That’s how I felt. So, just thought our execution was off all night. You know, give them credit: some of it was defense. I thought a lot of it was self-inflicted. We’ve been very good at just running the floor, ball movement, second and third options, second and third picks. Today the ball just was not – it was no fun to watch.”

On if he expected the Lakers to foul at the end of the game, since they had one to give:

“We were prepared for it; we had an extra time-out. We just told them to go quick. The first play, right before overtime, we anticipated either a switch – actually, they trapped it, which left Ray (Allen) open. But Paul (Pierce) couldn’t get it to him. And he picked his dribble up, and that’s what, you know, kind of messed the play up. Second one I don’t mind; Paul (Pierce) got a decent shot, his shot. Honestly, the first option which we looked for wasn’t there, I wanted a time-out, but I gave (Rajon) Rondo the luxury of if he thought Paul can get it, go for it.”

On Lakers having more second-chance points:

“Yeah, we knew that going into the game. But what really burned me is they got probably six second-chance points with the ball on the floor. It’s one thing when it’s above everybody, and they are bigger and longer. It’s another thing when the ball’s on the floor. They can’t get both. And they did both tonight. I mean, the last play of the game, that’s how they won the game: the ball was sitting there, and (Steve) Blake wasn’t even in the play and got the ball. So, those are disappointing. You’re going to have ugly games at times, but when you have them at home, you’ve got to win the 50/50 game. And the number that stands out to me is five free-throws, zero in the second half. I just thought we took jump shots for the most part all game.”

Paul Pierce:On last possession of OT and regulation

“One of them I didn’t make the pass, the second one I just missed the shot.”

On play of team:

“I just thought we just didn’t get to our sets like we wanted to. I thought we played a little too much random pick and roll basketball. They really blocked a lot of things that we were trying to do. We weren’t able to get the hole. We tried to get to the foul line. We only shot five free throws tonight. I thought we could of done a better job at rebounding the ball and also getting out on the break which we didn’t do enough of. That was our one advantage.

On if this was a frustrating loss:

“We get one rebound down there at the end of regulation we give ourselves a great chance at winning. That was a big emphasis for us coming into the game and we just didn’t do a good job tonight.

Ray Allen:On the loss:a

“We only shot 5 free throws tonight. I can’t say that we weren’t being aggressive. We missed shots that we pretty much take over and over again, but we just let that on go.”

On the last play of regulation:

“I’d like to look at it again. I was wide open. Paul, as he started dribbling off, both of those guys stayed with him, and I was sitting there wide open. Paul just said as he was going, he didn’t want to throw the ball. He was kind of in a bad position. It’s just the way he went off. If he knew they were going to jump up so hard and they were going to have to double him, he wuld have veered off a little bit more, so he could have a little bit better passing angle, but I thought either me or Kevin had an opportunity out there.”

Lakers-Celtics Preview

By MATT BECKER

Fans in Los Angeles and Boston delight in the rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics.

When these franchises square off in the regular season, however, the hometown fans have seldom seen their team win lately.

Struggling mightily away from Staples Center, the Lakers hope to break out of their road funk with a visit to TD Garden on Thursday night to face the Celtics, who look to extend their season-high winning streak to six.

Los Angeles is 11-2 at home but 3-9 on the road, and arrives in Boston after dropping two of the first three contests on a season-high six-game road trip. Much of the road struggles for the Lakers (14-11) stem from a defense that is allowing an average of 97.2 points compared to 85.2 at home.

Although the Celtics (14-10) have won five straight and nine of 10, Los Angeles might have better luck keeping Boston’s somewhat passive offense in check. The Celtics like to keep opponents from running and are among the league’s top teams in points allowed at 86.5 per game, but they also have one of the lowest-scoring offenses (90.8 ppg).

Taking the court at TD Garden also could work toward the Lakers’ advantage.

Los Angeles has won three straight and five of six in Boston during the regular season. That success has not bridged to the playoffs, however, as the Lakers lost five of six games there in the 2008 and 2010 NBA finals. The Celtics captured the title in ’08 and the Lakers won it in seven games two years later.

In the lone meeting in Boston last season, Kobe Bryant scored 23 and Pau Gasol finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 92-86 victory Feb. 10. Eleven days earlier at Staples Center, Paul Pierce scored 32 and Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 boards to withstand a 41-point performance from Bryant in a 109-96 victory. That was the Celtics’ third victory in four regular-season games versus the Lakers at Staples Center.

Bryant and Pierce each got a significant accomplishment out of the way before Thursday’s showdown.

Though Bryant passed Shaquille O’Neal for fifth place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 28,601, he missed nine of 10 shots in the fourth quarter Monday at Philadelphia and scored only four of his 28 points after halftime in a 95-90 loss.

Two days earlier, the Lakers were tied at Utah entering the fourth only to lose 96-87.

“I don’t think we need to change much,” forward Metta World Peace said. “We have the guys to finish the games. Right now there is not a lot of consistency, so once we start playing with a little more consistency, the play in the last quarter, we will win more consistently. We just have to stick with it.”

The Celtics have trailed for less than five minutes through all of their fourth quarters during the five-game win streak.

Pierce finished with 15 points in Tuesday’s 94-84 victory over Charlotte to overtake Larry Bird for No. 2 on Boston’s all-time scoring list. Pierce reached the milestone early in the third quarter and now has 21,797 points, six more than Bird.

“It was a relief,” said Pierce, averaging 22.6 points and 7.4 assists in the last 10 games. “So much was hanging over me the last couple of days. Just hearing about it and knowing that you’ve got a game to play.”

A key for Boston could be keeping Los Angeles from getting extra possessions on rebounds. While the Celtics are one of the league’s worst rebounding teams at 38.8 per game, the Lakers are among the best at 44.8.

Gasol has three straight double-doubles, grabbing 44 boards in that span with 12 coming on offense. Eight of Bynum’s 20 rebounds Monday came at the offensive end as he posted a fourth consecutive double-double, averaging 20.8 points and 13.3 boards in that span.