The Celtics cruised past the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 126-105 Friday night at TD Garden for their fourth-straight win.
Jaylen Brown returned from a one-game absence due to illness and notched 30 points on 10-of-22 from the field, to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.
"Just making the right play, watching a lot of film," Brown said in his postgame comments. "Seeing where I can get my guys more involved, get some easy baskets, because that's a great sign for our team when Payton [Pritchard], Derrick [White], Sam [Hauser], and Anfernee [Simons] are hitting threes. So just using the attention that I have (from defenders) for our benefit."
Derrick White scored 19 points, including going 5-of-10 from deep and six assists, while Jordan Walsh scored 17 points and Payton Pritchard added 15 points and six assists for the now 14-9 Celtics, which is good for fifth in the East.
Austin Reaves finished with a game-high 36 points and eight assists to lead the Lakers, who were without the trio of LeBron James (foot), Luka Dončić (personal) and former C's guard Marcus Smart (lower back).
Gabe Vincent had 18 points on 4-of-8 from behind the arc, while Rui Hachimura and Nick Smith Jr. each scored 13 points respectively for Los Angeles, as they fell to 16-6 on the season.
The Celtics held the Lakers to just 17-first quarter points and were ahead 69-46 at the break before leading by as many as 29 in the third period. Los Angeles cut their deficit to 15 to start the final frame but that quickly got erased to suffer just their second loss in the last 10 games.
Meanwhile, Boston for a second-straight night never trailed in yet another wire-to-wire blowout and are 9-2 in their last 11 matchups.
"I think we came in with an identity of how we wanted to play," said Joe Mazulla during his postgame presser. "I think it's ever-evolving based on the season. I think the guys are doing a good job of understanding that."
The Celtics will go head to head with the Toronto Raptors (15-9) on the road Sunday afternoon and tip-off is at 3:30 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston converted 55% of their shot attempts, including going 24-of-45 (53%) from 3-point range, while the Lakers were 43% from the field and 14-of-35 (40%) from long distance. The Celtics assisted 31 times on 46 baskets to Los Angeles' 15 dimes on 33 made shots. The C's won the rebound battle 38-35 and outscored their rivals 38-34 in the paint.
Joel Pavón
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