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Key Moment
Los Angeles used an 11-2 run midway through Tuesday’s third quarter to pull away for a 117-102 win over the visiting Celtics.
Boston and LA were neck-and-neck for the first 25-plus minutes of the game. In fact, the Lakers only led by three, at 60-57, a minute into the second half. The Lakers ignited that 11-2 run, however, at the 7:51 mark of the third period to turn a six-point lead into a 15-point advantage.
The Lakers’ Big Three were behind every point of that critical run, led by Russell Westbrook. He scored seven points, and LeBron James and Anthony Davis each scored two.
Westbrook jumpstarted the spurt with a layup in the paint that was assisted by Davis. He also ended the run with five straight points via a 3-pointer and two free throws.
The Lakers went on to pull ahead by as many as 20 points, and Boston was never able to slice that deficit down to fewer than 10 the rest of the night.
Key Player
One of Jayson Tatum’s most efficient offensive performances of the season wasn’t enough to carry Boston into the winner’s circle Tuesday night in LA.
Tatum broke the 30-point barrier for the seventh time in his last 11 games by dropping a game-high 34 on the Lakers. He has scored at least 31 points during each of Boston’s three games on the current West Coast road trip.
Efficient shooting, as referenced above, was what sparked his big night. Tatum connected on 13 of his 22 shots on the night, good for a 59.1 percent clip. That’s his second-best shooting night of the season, behind only his 32-point performance back on Nov. 6 in Dallas, during which he shot 63.2 percent from the field.
Tatum rounded out his box score with a team-best eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot during nearly 34 minutes of action.
Box Score Nuggets
- Los Angeles scored a whopping 66 points in the paint.
- LA outshot Boston 51.6 percent to 43.9 percent.
- Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 34 points.
- LeBron James led LA with 30 points.
- Boston totaled 27 assists, good for it's fourth-highest total of the season.
- Russell Westbrook tallied 24 points and a game-high 11 assists.
- Anthony Davis grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds and also scored 17 points.
- Boston shot just 20-of-29 from the free-throw line.
- Neither team shot better than 30.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
- Boston was outrebounded 51-34.
Quote of the Night
Rob Williams on what allowed LA's offense to score at a high rate