Lakers Change Lineups For Celtics

The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics renew their storied rivalry at Staples Center on Sunday evening

The last time the Los Angeles Lakers played the Boston Celtics, they suffered a humiliating loss, leading Lakers coach Byron Scott to change his lineup.

At that point, the Lakers had won only five of the first 15 games of the season. Looking back, that starting stretch may have been the best the Lakers have looked during the 2014-15 season. Since then, the Lakers have only won eight of 34 games, as the season has continued to spiral out of control. Entering Sunday's contest, the Lakers have lost seven in a row.

With the Celtics visiting the Lakers on Sunday, Scott again decided to make a change to his starters. Carlos Boozer, who did not play in Friday's loss to the New Jersey Nets, will return to the starting five in place of rookie Tarik Black. Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre will all remain in the starting lineup according to Scott.

Factored into the lineup changes, the Lakers want to keep together a new-look second unit of Ronnie Price, Jeremy Lin, Nick Young, Ed Davis and Jordan Hill. That second unit led a furious fourth quarter comeback against the Brooklyn Nets, though it ultimately fell short.

On Sunday morning, after conducting an open shootaround session with season ticket holders in attendance, Scott spoke with NBCLA.com and explained his thought process for the new lineup.

"Just changing it up a little bit," Scott said. "I thought about changing Ryan [Kelly] as well, but I liked the way he played the last game. Jordan [Clarkson] and Wayne [Ellington], I haven't thought about [changing] that at all."

"[Ellington] had an off game the other night, but he's still been playing well for us, and Jordan [Clarkson] is still learning, and I still see him making big strides."

Scott said he was uncertain if he would extend to a 12-man rotation or if he would continue playing two five-man units. If the Lakers' coach goes with the latter option, Wesley Johnson and Black would be out of the rotation. Considering Black is a rookie under development with the season going nowhere, the change to sit a rookie, Black, and return a veteran, Boozer, seemed curious. 

"I saw what I wanted to see: tough player, plays hard, good rebounder, good defender," Scott said about Black. "Still got to work on that offensive game -- his post-up game, his little 15-footer. But those are things we can definitely work on in the summer. I saw what I wanted to see."

Scott said Black would get more opportunities this season, but the coach did not sound sure about whether Black would see the court on Sunday night.

"I want to see as many guys as possible, and I want to see as many combinations as possible, but the first order of business is to win the game," Scott delivered a reminder that the Lakers were playing the Celtics.

Playing the rival Celtics at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time, even members of "Team Tank," who want the Lakers to lose out and get the best possible draft pick, would probably celebrate a victory on Sunday night.

Contact Us