"The Celtics were just tired"- NBA insider downplays Lakers' blowout win against fatigued Boston squad

Following the LA Lakers' blowout win against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, analysts discussed the loss from the reigning champ's perspective. NBA insider Brian Windhorst explained why he isn't concerned about the Celtics despite their performance and their string of losses.

The crew on NBA on ESPN, which involved Malika Andrews, Shams Charania, and Danny Green, spoke with Windhorst, who was reporting from Paris for the NBA Paris Games. Windhorst explained how the Celtics' loaded schedule contributed to their exhaustion against the Lakers.

Despite suffering a 21-point loss, the largest of the season for the Celtics, Windhorst isn't losing hope in the team. He feels this most recent defeat comes with a relatively easy explanation.

"I think this is a real simple situation, the Celtics were just tired," Windhorst said. "I was talking to some people were at the game last night, they felt that Derrick White, they've never seen him so fatigued... they played him less than 20 minutes, Joe Mazzulla clearly saw he didn't have it."

The NBA insider pointed out that the Celtics matchup against the Lakers was their fifth game in seven nights as part of a West Coast road trip for the team. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played in all five games, including two games that went to overtime. Windhorst explained that this heavy schedule played a big part in how the Celtics looked on Thursday night.

"I do think that their shooting is down," Windhorst explained. "I do think that they've, you know sort of taken a closer look at whether they need to rebalance that a little bit— I am not overreacting to this week."

Windhorst continued, saying that the expectation for the Celtics shouldn't be any different for their game against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

"This is just a brutal five in seven and guess what, they play tomorrow I believe on ABC against Dallas to finish this road trip," Windhorst added. "They're going to be tired in that one coming west to east. So I would say even tomorrow, before anything even happens, don't worry about what you see from the Celtics."

Ultimately, Windhorst isn't worried about the Celtics in the big picture. He recognizes the current road trip's impact on their fatigue and would need a bigger sample size of bad defeats before he got concerned. Windhorst cautions everybody to wait until after the All-Star break to see how Boston attacks the second half of the season before drawing any significant conclusions.

The LA Lakers look to continue their win streak on the road

After their 117-96 blowout of the Boston Celtics, the LA Lakers have won consecutive games for just the third time since December. Following this two-game stretch at home, the purple and gold are packing it up for a six-game road trip starting Sunday at Golden State.

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves (Image Source: Imagn)

The road trip then features matchups against the Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Washington Wizards, three of the worst teams in the NBA. This allows LA to stack a few wins and distinguish themselves in the standings. The Lakers are currently the fifth seed in the West with one less win than the sixth-seeded LA Clippers.

The fifth seed would be the Lakers' best finish since the 2019-20 season, when they won the NBA championship.