By Billy
Witz
FOXSports.com
WITZ
ARCHIVE
LOS ANGELES -- What was it again that LeBron James was saying about karma?
We may get a little clarification, perhaps some confirmation, on Sunday afternoon when the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers resume their little nationally televised morality play.
If there is anything approaching cosmic justice, Boston will administer it to a team that, as its coach Phil Jackson is apt to point out, does not always abide by the laws of the basketball gods.
That is, the Lakers play when they want to.
There are all sorts of points that delineate the difference between the Celtics and Lakers in this rivalry: offense vs. defense, grace vs. grit, green vs. gold. But in the latest incarnation, it comes down to a matter of showing up for work every day.
The Celtics do, the Lakers don't.
Yes, each team will arrive coming off a loss. But all defeats are not created equal.
It is one thing to lose in Phoenix the night after playing a late game in Portland, as Boston did Thursday night. When the Celtics lose, it is often because their shooting touch, though one of the best in the league, abandons them. And maybe that can be ascribed to the wear on the legs of Ray Allen (35), Kevin Garnett (34) and Paul Pierce (33).
But it is the rare night when the Celtics don't bring some snarl to their defense. In their 11 losses, the Celtics still managed to hold their opponents to 90 or fewer points seven times.
"They play basketball the right way," Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. "They are a complete team."
As for the Lakers, they have held opponents to 90 points in just one of their 14 losses. In half, they have allowed 100 points or more.
How do you explain losing at home to 10-win Sacramento, which for nearly three quarters shot 63 percent from the field?
Quite simply, the Lakers mailed it in.
The Lakers were riled when Jerry West's accurate criticism
