Jaylen Brown Won’t ‘Sugarcoat’ Celtics Loss To Shorthanded Lakers

The shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers stunned the Boston Celtics with a 114-105 win without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

While many would assume the game would have been an automatic win for the Celtics, Jaylen Brown didn’t cop-out after the brutal loss.

“We don’t really make excuses,” Brown told reporters after the game, per NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “I don’t think anybody in the crowd or anybody wants to hear that excuse.”

Brown added: “We gotta come out and play basketball each and every night. Tonight, tip our hat to the Lakers. They played a lot harder than us.”

The Celtics guard shot just 33% from the field including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, knocking down just eight points in the loss. Brown, who was named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve prior to tip-off, knows he didn’t do enough to help his team against the Lakers.

“We don’t sugarcoat it,” Brown said. “Even though we came out excited, this is not a good spot to be in. We don’t want to build bad habits. We want to play the game the right way. We want to guard, defend and respect our opponents. That stuff you have to do on a night-in and night-out basis. We didn’t do that tonight. From top to bottom. As a leader on this team I take responsibility for it, but we got to be better.”

Of the five starters, only Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis recorded double-digit points. Tatum led all Celtics scorers with 23 and Porzingis added 17. Off the bench, San Hauser shot 6-of-11, including 5-of-9 from downtown for 17 points.

Across the court, Austin Reaves recorded a season-high 32 points in the absence of James and Davis to lead the way for the Lakers.

The Celtics are 2-2 in their seven-game homestand and will look to bounce back against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night.