In a marquee matchup between rivals, the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 111-101 of their first assembly since Luka Doncic joined LA.
Jrue Vacation was in a position to make his return to the Celtics lineup after having missed the final 4 video games with “mallet finger” on his shooting-hand pinky. It’s an ailment that had Celtics followers anticipating him to overlook important time, uncertain if he’d even be wholesome for the playoffs. Fortunately, given his return, it appears as if he’ll be capable of play by it by holding his finger in a forged.
Boston goes to wish him going ahead, and he gave us a reminder of that in opposition to the Lakers.
Vacation could have had some further motivation to come back again for the rivalry. He’s an LA native, born and raised, and even went to UCLA for his one yr of school ball. It’s nearly unattainable to not find out about their bitter basketball rivalry with Boston, and much more so once you develop up in one of many two cities, particularly coming from a basketball household. Whereas the 2 groups haven’t been on the identical competitors stage for some time now, it feels as if the hearth could lastly be again, and Jrue wished to get in on the motion.
Photograph by Brian Babineau/NBAE by way of Getty Photos
Vacation’s stats don’t leap off the field rating, however that’s not a part of his job description at this level. He’s all about doing the little issues to raise the group’s protection and hold the offense related. He completed the sport with 7 factors, 1 help, and 5 rebounds on 3-6 capturing, 1-3 from three-point vary, and a +9 net-rating.
Though it got here on low quantity, it was encouraging to see Vacation knock down a couple of pictures. The largest concern along with his harm is that it might have an effect on his shot-making capability. With a area purpose proportion of 43.9% on the season, and a three-point proportion of 34.2%, he was nearly on tempo for the sport.
He’s undoubtedly nonetheless getting adjusted to the forged on his finger, so we’ll want an even bigger pattern earlier than we are able to decide how a lot it impacts him. With that being mentioned, groups nonetheless need to respect Jrue whereas he’s on the ground, and he’s essential to Boston’s spacing, whether or not that be with him initiating the offense, hanging out within the corners, or setting himself within the dunker spot. Greater than his scoring, the Celtics depend on Jrue for his sport IQ and his capability to place himself in the appropriate spots on offense.
4 of his 5 rebounds have been offensive in opposition to the Lakers, offering Boston with further possessions in a defensive-focused sport that was comparatively low-scoring for each groups. Finally, solely two of them led to buckets, however offensive boards are an vitality spark. They’re a product of effort, and within the grand scheme of a sport, they clearly give a group extra possibilities to place factors on the board.
An incredible instance of that got here late within the fourth quarter. The Celtics have been up by simply 7, and Jaylen missed a three-point try with slightly over two and a half minutes left within the sport. Derrick White made a well timed hustle play, saving the ball from going out of bounds, and discovering Jrue, who did a superb job of constructing himself accessible. Vacation took a dribble in direction of the basket, drawing the eye of all 5 Lakers gamers, and inflicting them to converge on the paint as they have been attempting to regather themselves. In doing so, Jrue was in a position to create loads of house to kick it out to Jayson Tatum who discovered himself broad open for a dagger three on the finish of the shot clock.
Tatum was raving about Jrue after the sport. ESPN’s Lisa Salters requested him about what the Celtics have been doing defensively. “Simply competing,” he mentioned, including, “we missed Jrue… We’re a very completely different group when Jrue’s on the market. So many issues he does on the market on each ends that will not at all times present up on the stat sheet. We’re so significantly better with Jrue Vacation.”
Jayson continued to sing Jrue’s praises when the Celtics obtained again to the locker room. Joe Mazzulla commanded the huddle to begin sharing his ideas on the sport with the group. When he opened up the ground for the gamers to chime in, Tatum spoke on to Jrue. “Method to play, man. What you probably did on each ends of the ground, the additional factors and rebounds on the offensive finish gave us life. Completely satisfied to have you ever again.”
As JT mentioned, Vacation clearly means quite a bit to this group. He’s a key part to their general success on each ends of the ground, and his impression isn’t simply replaceable. Between the brand new finger harm and the shoulder impingement that he’s been coping with all through the season, there’s legitimate issues about his capability to remain on the courtroom come playoff time. We’ll have to watch each illnesses, however his title didn’t present up on the latest Celtics harm report, which is actually encouraging.
