Anthony Davis scored 24 points, Austin Reaves added 23, and the Los Angeles Lakers easily defeated the Boston Celtics 117-96 on Thursday night. This victory marked the largest margin of victory the Lakers have had over the Celtics in the regular season since 2007.
LeBron James contributed 20 points and 14 rebounds after being named to the All-Star Game for the 21st consecutive season on the same day.
James also surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon to secure the seventh spot in defensive rebounds in NBA history early in the third quarter. Going into the game, James needed six rebounds to surpass the Hall of Fame center, and now has a total of 9,720.
Kristaps Porzingis led the Celtics with 22 points, while Jaylen Brown added 17.
The Lakers, who have won two consecutive games after a rough stretch of four losses in six games, had a 28-point lead during the fourth quarter.
Takeaways
Celtics: Jayson Tatum, also an All-Star selection, finished with 16 points. The Celtics played three games in four days and were coming off a 117-113 overtime victory against the Clippers on Wednesday.
Lakers: Gabe Vincent tied a season high with four 3-pointers, totaling 12 points. Los Angeles made 11 3-pointers in the first half, matching their season high for the first two quarters. The team finished 15 of 35 from beyond the arc for the game.
Key moment
James drove past Luke Kornet and Sam Hauser in the lane, finishing with a dunk with 8.9 seconds left in the first quarter to extend the Lakers’ lead to 34-23 and conclude a 17-5 run to end the period.
Key stat
Bronny James played his second consecutive game, going 0 for 1 from the field in four minutes.
Up next
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday. The Celtics will face Dallas, while the Lakers start a six-game road trip against Golden State.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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