Lakers miss their free throws and barely scrape by the Celtics 108-107
Channel: JOE VIDEO
Date: 2018-01-24

Facing their fourth consecutive loss, and just by pure necessity, the Boston Celtics aimed at the Lakers' biggest weakness.

Free throw shooting.

And it almost worked.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Lakers' best free throw shooter, missed two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining in the game — their third and fourth free-throw misses of the game's final 23 seconds.

Boston had the ball, down one, but couldn't score as Marcus Smart's three-point attempt missed.

The Lakers beat the Celtics, 108-107, improving to 18-29 while the Celtics fell to 34-14. Boston entered the game with the best record in the eastern conference and a three-game losing streak.

Kyle Kuzma heated up in the fourth quarter. After scoring 11 points through the first three, he scored 17 in the fourth, including a three-pointer that gave the Lakers a late lead, making his first six consecutive shots. Kuzma contributed in other ways, too. The Lakers took a 90-89 lead with 6:40 remaining in the game, when Kuzma flipped the ball behind his back to Larry Nance Jr. for a dunk.

Kuzma notched his 15th 20-point game of the season, the most by a rookie since Eddie Jones had 15 in the 1994-95 season.

Kyrie Irving scored 33 points for the Celtics, 12 of them in the fourth quarter.