The Lakers got handed another bitter defeat by their Eastern Conference rivals in an ugly 111-89 loss to the Celtics on Sunday night.
It marked Los Angeles’ second blowout loss to Boston this season, with the latter looking more like true NBA title contenders heading into a pivotal stretch of the season. Lakers stars Luka Dončić and Lebron James put up 25 and 20 points a piece—James also made some history with his 43,000th career point—but they didn’t get very much help from the rest of the roster.
The Celtics, on the other hand, were able to roll through the Lakers thanks to Payton Pritchard’s and Jaylen Brown’s big-time performances: Pritchard, who has scored at least 30 points in six of his last seven games since returning to his sixth-man role, had 30 points off the bench and sank six of nine 3-pointers. Brown had a game-high 32 points as well as eight rebounds and seven assists.
After the Lakers’ disappointing loss, James Worthy didn’t hold back on his former team’s lackluster showing.
“This game to me wasn’t about stats and rebounds and all that. All that is the norm,” Worthy said. “No heart. Weak. ... Tonight, this afternoon was weak. It’s the Boston Celtics. No Tatum, you’re at home, you’re in fifth place, you’re trying to move up, you show no—to me—no respect for the uniform. You come out and get out-rebounded, offensive rebound after offensive rebound. Pritchard, Jaylen Brown, you can sniff out weakness. When you do that, you can dominate. That’s what they did. They’ve got to decide who they want to be. Because right now, I’m not sure. ... It was tough to watch.”
James Worthy RIPS the Lakers after their loss to the Celtics 😬
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) February 23, 2026
“No heart, weak… This afternoon, was weak. It’s the Boston Celtics… To me, No respect for the uniform. You come out and get out rebounded, Pritchard and Jaylen Brown, you can sniff out weakness. When you do that,… pic.twitter.com/KZVLpWsJD1
The Lakers were held to their second-lowest point total of the season in Sunday’s defeat and clearly have more work to do if they want a real shot at contending for a championship.
What’s next for the Lakers
James and Co. currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 34-22 record. They face a very winnable slate of games in the next week, with matchups scheduled against the Magic, Suns, Warriors, Kings and Pelicans.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lakers Legend Rips Team After Ugly Loss, Season Sweep Against Celtics.
