Behind the NBA’s hottest new duo, LeBron James and Luka Dončić, the Los Angeles Lakers entered Saturday night’s showdown with the Boston Celtics on an eight-game winning streak that had vaulted them up the Western Conference standings and firmly into the championship conversation.
The Celtics have a pretty good one-two punch of their own, though, and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown issued a stern reminder that the road to the title runs through Boston. Tatum went for 40 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and two steals, while Brown added 31 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 111-101 Celtics win.
“It’s an honor,” Tatum said of the chance to play in the latest edition of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. “The history and traditions, all the legends that have worn these uniforms and competed in these battles. The NBA is a better place when the Lakers and Celtics are good.”
This was the 29th time that Tatum and Brown have each scored 30-plus points in a game, which is the fourth-most by any duo since the NBA/ABA merger. Only Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (34), Alex English and Kiki VanDeWeghe (33) and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal (33) have done so more often.
After an extremely competitive first half, the Celtics broke the game open in the third quarter thanks in large part to their defense. They completely shut the Lakers down, holding them to 13 points on 5 of 23 from the field for the quarter. In fact, the Lakers had more turnovers (six) than made baskets in the frame.
One of the many reasons that Tatum and Brown are arguably the best duo in the league is that they both get it done on both ends of the floor. That was evident in the third quarter as they led the effort against James and Dončić, with each coming up with a steal from their counterpart.
“When your best players take pride in their individual defense I think it sets the tone for your team, and those guys take on that challenge,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Of course, scoring has never been an issue for the “Jays,” and they combined to outscore the Lakers by themselves in the third (16-13).
And after the Lakers made their inevitable comeback in the fourth quarter, it was Tatum and Brown who closed the show. With 4:36 remaining, Dončić banked in a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four. Brown immediately responded with a 3 of his own in Dončić’s face, and a few possessions later, Tatum hit another triple to push the Celtics’ lead back to double digits.
Including those two 3s, Tatum and Brown had every single point for the Celtics over the final 4:08, as they outscored the Lakers 12-6 to pull away for the win.
This hasn’t always been the smoothest title defense for the Celtics, but Saturday’s win was yet another reminder that they can take things to another level when they need to, and that all starts with Tatum and Brown.
“It’s an honor to be able to be part of a winning group,” Brown said. “I’m willing to make sacrifices on either end to get the job done. But on any given night, I could be the best player on the floor, offense or defense, and my team knows that and respects that.”
