Lakers overpowered by Celtics for third loss of Summer League

Despite another great performance from Bronny, the Lakers couldn’t stop the Celtics on Thursday night.

A disastrous second quarter from the Lakers led to a defeat at the hands of the Celtics on Thursday, 87-78.

Leading 26-21 after the first quarter, the Lakers went the first seven minutes of the second frame without scoring and managed just nine points in the period.

Bronny James ended with 18 points and five dimes. Christian Koloko had a productive game with 12 points, five rebounds and six blocks. Cole Swider scored 12 points and DJ Steward pitched in with 14 points and five assists.

Dalton Knecht continued to disappoint, finishing with eight points on 3-12 shooting overall and 1-6 shooting from deep.

Darius Bazley, unfortunately, left the game late in the second quarter with a knee injury that forced him to be taken off the court in a wheelchair. He ended with eight points, four rebounds and two blocks.

It was the Koloko show early as he did a bit of everything, scoring four straight points and blocking a shot on the other end. Bronny dished two impressive dimes to Christian, both resulting in emphatic dunks.

Cole began heating up and scored five points. Darius provided his usual great energy and spark off the bench with four points, three of which came on a three-point play. He was then fouled again, completing another three-point play.

The Lakers had several great defensive stops to keep themselves ahead by a nice cushion. At the end of the first, LA was up by five.

Both teams started the second quarter with missed shots until Boston’s Kendall Brown drained a 3-pointer. A combination of turnovers and missed shots led to a slow start. A triple from Max Shulga put the Celics ahead. Nearing the midway point, the Lakers had yet to score a bucket.

Boston went on a 16-0 scoring run, adding to their momentum. They had extended their lead to 11, but Los Angeles answered back with DJ scoring five straight to finally get them on the board. Cole joined in with a midrange jumper. DJ added two more points with a layup to help LA cut the deficit to five at halftime.

The third quarter opened with Bronny connecting with Christian again for a dunk. Bronny then scored his first two points of the game. The Lakers had tied the game with a nice start to this quarter, but Boston responded to regain the lead.

Kenneth Lofton Jr. exploded for seven points as the quarter began to wind down. He was helping the Celtics maintain a big lead. After a scoreless first half, Bronny scored 10 points, all in this quarter. He converted on two three-point plays as well.

Boston was up by 10 at the end of the period.

The Celtics still had much of the momentum in the final frame, but the Lakers were trying hard to pull off a comeback. Bronny got crafty with the ball for a layup. He also drained his first 3-pointer of the night. Christian swatted his fifth block of the night, continuing a very dominant defense performance from him.

However, the Lakers never truly threatened with a comeback and lost going away on the night.

Key Takeaways:

Christian’s improvement in each game has been a welcome sign. He’s looking good defensively and scoring well. Confidence is high!

It’s very disappointing that Dalton hasn’t had the kind of Summer League we all expected.

Catch the final Summer League game on Friday against the Denver Nuggets at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.