The Boston Celtics have won their 5th consecutive road game after defeating the short-handed LA Lakers 121-113. Having being led by Jaylen Brown who scored game-high 40 points, all the starters for the away team finished with double digits. Jayson Tatum and Tristan Thompson had 14 points each. Whereas Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker added 15 and 12 points respectively.
Talking about the defending champions, LA Lakers, they were led by Talen Horton Tucker coming off the bench and knocking 19 points. Whereas Marc Gasol knocked 18, including 4 from behind the arc. Ben McLemore registered 17 points against his name and Kyle Kuzma added 13. After this loss the LA Lakers lost their 3rd out of 5 games.
LA Lakers’ 24-2 late run in the 4th quarter not enough to get past Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown made 13 of his first 14 shots and hit three 3-pointers while falling two points shy of his career high for the Boston Celtics, who have won eight of 11 despite an embarrassing finish at Staples Center.
The Boston Celtics led by as many as 27 points at one stage of the game and this led the Brad Stevens resting his marquee starters Brown, Tatum, Smart and Walker. But a 4th quarter surge of rallying a 24-2 run saw the LA Lakers reduce the deficit to only 6 points.
As LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond all got hyped on the sideline, a big 3 pointer should have built the ultimate pressure of the Celtics. But unfortunately for them that didn’t happen. But to avoid the worst case scenario, Brad Stevens got in Smart, brown and Tatum with less than 2 minutes remaining which saw the away team close out the game rather comfortably.
Having said that, the LA Lakers were welcomed back from a seven-game road trip by about 1,915 fans in the Staples Center stands in the building’s first significant sports crowd since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Also read: Milwaukee Bucks cool off Atlanta Hawks 120-109 as Giannis Antetokounmpo returns
