It's one of the longest running sports rivalries of all-time, as the Celtics beat the L.A. Lakers 111-89 Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena to sweep their regular season series 2-0.
Jaylen Brown recorded 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Payton Pritchard added 30 points on 6-of-9 from 3-point range and eight assists off the bench, as the Celtics are now 7-1 since he returned to his sixth-man role.
"Payton has been playing at an All-Star level," Brown told reporters of Pritchard. "And I'm happy to see it. Nobody happier to see it than me."
Derrick White chipped in 12 points, eight assists, while Neemias Queta notched a double-double of 10 points, 12 rebounds to go along with three blocks and Nikola Vučević had nine points, eight rebounds to help Boston improve to 37-19 on the season.
Luka Dončić finished with 25 points on 22 shots, while LeBron James added 20 points, five assists and Austin Reaves scored 15 points for the Lakers, who dropped to 34-22 out west.
It was a knotted up at 28 heading into the second period before the Celtics used a 20-11 run to close the first half, capped off by a Pritchard 30-footer to beat the buzzer and grab a 60-50 advantage at the break.
Boston held the Lakers to 39 total points scored on 16-of-44 shooting in the last two quarters, while Brown and Pritchard each netted 19 points respectively, including a step-back 3-pointer with 3:24 left to play by the reigning Sixth-Man of the Year that prompted the home crowd to boo and JJ Redick to empty his bench.
"The story's not done," C's coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame of his team's focused. "We are only a product of what we do tomorrow, what we do the next day, and that's just the story. If we would have lost this game by one, tomorrow's film session [would have] to be as detailed and as disciplined as it is going to be with the result that we had. And so that's the story. It's not done yet."
The Celtics are 2-0 to start their four-game road trip, which will continue Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns (33-25) and the Denver Nuggets (36-22) Wednesday in a back-to-back to conclude the western swing.
Boston hit 48% of their attempts, including 14-of-36 (39%)from deep, while the Lakers were 39% from the field and 9-of-30 (30%) from long range. The Celtics won the rebound battle 50-39 and outscored the home team in the paint 48-42. The C's had 30 assists on 40 baskets and committed 14 turnovers, while Lakers had 18 dimes on 34 made shots and turned the ball over eight times.
Joel Pavón
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