Without LeBron James and Luka Doncic, Celtics-Lakers somehow felt like ‘just another game’

COMMENTARY

The amount of talent that wasn’t available to play in the Celtics-Lakers game Friday night was staggering.

There was no LeBron James. No Jayson Tatum. No Luka Doncic. Even Marcus Smart was ruled out for what would have been his first game in Boston as a rival Laker.

This was a nationally televised Friday night game between two storied franchises ranked in the top 5 of their respective conferences.

Before the game, the Celtics tried to spice up the game, calling it the “next chapter in the league’s greatest rivalry” in a post on X. It was certainly an expensive ticket for fans.

But outside of Jaylen Brown, both franchises’ all-stars were absent, and a potentially juicy matchup became just another checkmark on the schedule.

“Just another game,” Brown said after the Celtics’ 126-105 victory. “They’re obviously great players. It’s an honor to compete against these guys, but my job is to go out there and help our team get wins and that’s what we did tonight.”

Brown was great again, scoring 30 points to go with eight rebounds and eight assists. The outcome was never in doubt. Boston jumped out to a 39-17 lead and maintained control of the game for the remainder of the evening.

But man, it felt like a missed opportunity to see the only time the Lakers visited Boston this season reduced to “just another game.”

There are, of course, reasons why things got so out of hand. Doncic was out for unknown personal reasons. James battles sciatica and arthritis. Celtics fans are well aware of Tatum’s Achilles injury. Smart is struggling with a back injury.

Payton Pritchard said the absence didn’t take away from the Celtics’ win.

“I mean, maybe for the fans, but we’re trying to win a game,” Pritchard said. “It puts another ‘W’ in the win column for us if we win, so it doesn’t matter who plays there.”

But it does matter to the people who came to watch. The NBA is a star-driven league. The star players and big moments make this rivalry what it is.

Rhode Island native Joe Mazzulla recalled the excitement of watching the Celtics win the NBA Finals against the Lakers in 2008 as Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and Rajon Rondo battled on the court.

“I would probably say it would be ’08,” Mazzulla said, when asked what moment this rivalry felt different from others. “That was probably the biggest version of that. I think that’s when I was in college and really started to appreciate basketball. I would say that exposed that from a competitive standpoint.”

Brown said it didn’t take long after he was drafted to see what the Celtics-Lakers rivalry could be.

“Immediately the first one I’ve ever experienced,” Brown said. “Celtics-Lakers one where you can feel the atmosphere, you can feel the energy in the building. And then, as a player, what better basketball environment do you want? There’s a lot of history and there’s a lot of people excited. You have to be ready to play.”

The Celtics and Lakers both have plenty of firepower this year. They also have the weight of a shared storied history that competes with each other. You didn’t feel much of that on Friday evening.

It wasn’t that long ago that Doncic teamed up with Kyrie Irving in an attempt to beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals. James’ history against Boston goes back more than twenty years at this point. There’s also the question of how many Boston trips the 40-year-old James will have left behind before he retires.

These storylines, along with Doncic’s scoring prowess and James’ immense fame, would normally have made this game one of the biggest of the season had it been played on any other date.

The “Beat LA” signs were still up. The Lakers got the ‘Gino Time’ treatment after finding themselves on the wrong end of a lopsided blowout. There was still a large, loud crowd at TD Garden for the game.

The Celtics took care of business and you can’t beat them for that. You have to play who is in front of you.

It was Celtics-Lakers, but that didn’t really happen feeling like Celtics-Lakers, which is a shame considering how often these teams meet during the regular season.

The rematch will take place a few weeks after the All-Star break, on February 22 in Los Angeles.

“I think you have to realize that it’s a blessing to be able to be a part of something that’s much bigger than yourself,” Mazzulla said. “The rivalry has been around much longer and will be around even longer than I have been here.

“I think along the way you benefit from the perspective and the blessing of it… you can’t take for granted the opportunity and the blessing that it is, to be able to do that.”

Khari A Thompson

Sports reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.