Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket in front of LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena on December 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Copyright 2022 NBAE. Harry How/Getty Images/AFP
Jayson Tatum scored 44 points and Jaylen Brown added 25 points with 15 rebounds as the visiting Boston Celtics ended a rare losing skid with a 122-118 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA on Tuesday in a battle of longtime rivals.
Marcus Smart scored 18 points and Derrick White had 10 as the Celtics rebounded after losing their previous two games. Boston was upended by the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers, while losing consecutive games for just the second time this season.
“Oh, man, last game of the road trip, we’ve been going for, like, 13 days, second night of a back-to-back,” Tatum said. “But we found a way.
“We needed that,” added Tatum, whose 44 points included a game-tying turnaround jumper over LeBron James that sent the contest to overtime. “We found a way to get back on track.”
The Celtics improved their NBA-best record to 22-7 and went 4-2 on a six-game road trip, which matches a season high. Boston returns home Friday against the Orlando Magic.
Anthony Davis scored 37 points with 12 rebounds and LeBron James scored 33 points with nine rebounds and nine assists as the Lakers lost for the fourth time in their last five games. Los Angeles lost in its return home after going 3-3 on a season-long six-game trip to the East Coast.
Russell Westbrook scored 20 points with 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter.
He's taking over in OT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZrP9RHQA61
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 14, 2022
Boston led 81-61 with 6:57 remaining in the third before Los Angeles made its charge. The Lakers closed the deficit to 88-82 at the end of the third period and pushed in front 89-88 on two free throws by Westbrook with 9:35 remaining.
The Lakers made it an 18-0 run, their longest of the season, on a 3-pointer by James with 8:55 remaining for a 92-88 lead and had a 106-93 advantage with 4:25 remaining on a James free throw.
Boston closed regulation on a 17-4 run, tying the game 110-110 with 17.1 seconds remaining on a turnaround jumper from Tatum after Davis missed a pair of free throws on the Lakers’ end with 28 seconds left.
“It was big,” Tatum said of the win. “(It) showed the character of our team.”
James missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Lakers the victory at the regulation buzzer.
After Westbrook made the first two baskets of overtime to put the Lakers on top, the Celtics went on a 12-0 run capped by a Brown 3-pointer for a 122-114 lead with 53.8 seconds remaining.