Lakers fake comeback falls short in Summer League loss to Celtics

The Lakers struggled to find any rhythm and drop their second game of the Vegas Summer League to the Boston Celtics.

The Lakers could not find enough defense to stop the Boston Celtics despite a spirited fourth-quarter rally, losing 88-74.

Dalton Knecht dropped 19 points with three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Maxwell Lewis scored 13 points with three rebounds and two assists with most of that coming in the first half.

Bronny had a rough game, going just 1-5 from the field with his only two points coming in the fourth quarter. Moses Brown played well off the bench with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Celtics started the game on a 9-0 run with the Lakers struggling heavily offensively. Boston went up 10-2 and the only player from LA to score was Lewis, who made two free throws. Most of the quarter belonged to the Celtics as they put their foot on the gas pedal and drove right over this young Lakers team.

After their rough start, LA picked it up and Knecht shouldered the offensive load. The Lakers erased a 10-point Celtic lead and were down two at the end of the first.

The Celtics went on an 8-0 run after the Lakers had gotten to within one to start the second. Brown's dunks gave the Lakers some nice energy off the bench. Lewis started the game rough, but he nailed two straight 3-pointers that Los Angeles desperately needed to help pick up the offense.

Lewis continued to take over offensively with a layup and another three. He was the first player from either team to reach double figures with scoring. The Celtics ended the half on a 17-3 run to lead by 16 at halftime.

The Lakers still couldn’t generate consistent offense as a team. The third quarter wasn’t much different than the first half, as the Celtics continued to play great while LA struggled. Knecht was the only Laker, aside from Lewis, to generate good shots and connect on a few of them.

Knecht took charge and began to heat up scoring all over the floor. Bronny James continued to slump, missing all his shot attempts for the game. LA was down 16 going into the final frame.

The fourth quarter saw the Lakers make a push at a comeback. Blake Hinson had played well in one of the California Classic games, but he had been struggling since then and finally knocked down a much-needed 3-pointer.

The Lakers were only down 11 with 5:40 left after a monster dunk from Knecht, who was up to 19 points. Bronny’s first points came at the perfect moment to help what was a spirited rally to cut the deficit to 10.

The comeback fell short as the Celtics were the better team and kept their composure as the Lakers made their run.

Key Takeaways:

It’ll take patience and time for Bronny to find consistent offense. His shots are decent, just needs to see one or two go through the hop to help find his groove.

Knecht is very NBA ready. He’s been improving each game.

The team has struggled to make the right plays and get each other involved better. It’s Summer League, so maybe this is nitpicking, but they keep looking bad, and it’s worth talking about.

Catch the next game of the Vegas Summer League on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks at 6:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.