Fans hoping to see LeBron James and Luka Doncic play in Boston for the only time this season left TD Garden disappointed Friday night.
But the crowd’s loss was the Celtics’ gain.
Boston had no trouble dispatching the shorthanded Lakers, who were playing without James (sciatica/foot), Doncic (personal reasons) and ex-Celtic Marcus Smart (back). The Celtics won 126-105 to claim their fourth straight victory and ninth in their last 11 games.
After beginning the season 0-3, the 14-9 Celtics now sit just one game back of second place in the Eastern Conference.
“I thought we did a good job — tremendous job — of figuring out how to pull out wins,” Payton Pritchard said. “And then in these last two games, we kind of just put our foot on the gas and took care of business. I feel like our team is growing, and we’ve just got to keep growing and keep getting better.”
Jaylen Brown, back after sitting out Thursday’s blowout win over the Wizards with an illness, paced the Celtics with 30 points on 10-of-22 shooting, eight rebounds and eight assists. Derrick White scored 19 points on 7-of-14, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range, and Jordan Walsh again impressed with 17 points (6-for-7; 4-for-5 from three), four rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
All five Boston starters scored in double figures, as did Sam Hauser, who went 4-for-7 from deep off the bench. As a team, the Celtics shot 54% from the field and set season highs in 3-point percentage (53%) and 3-point makes (24-for-45).
The Lakers got 36 points from likely first-time All-Star Austin Reaves, with 15 of those coming on free throws, but not nearly enough from his depleted supporting cast. The Celtics never trailed in the win, which dropped LA to 16-6.
The first quarter was a Boston beatdown. The Celtics shot 7-for-11 from 3-point range, assisted on 13 of their 14 made basket and committed just two turnovers. White and Brown each scored nine points in the opening period, with the former continuing his resurgence as a shooter and the latter drawing three early fouls.
After shooting an uncharacteristically poor 28% from three over his first 12 games, White is just shy of 40% over his last 10 appearances, which head coach Joe Mazzulla attributed to his improvements on catch-and-shoot threes.
“He’s continuing the same effort and energy on both ends of the floor, and I think as we continue to evolve offensively and play with the level of pace and execute and work the reads that we have, he’s getting some catch-and-shoot shots,” Mazzulla explained. “Listen, for him, he got six catch-and-shoot shots per game last year, and shot 40%. At the beginning of the year, it was at 4.8 for 28.6%. So that’s it.
“It was just the ability to make a couple more catch-and-shoot shots, and once he was able to do that, you’re seeing the consistency that he has.”
Walsh opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and later converted an and-one layup. Finishing at and around the rim is one of the many improvements the 21-year-old has shown this season. He’s made more baskets inside the restricted area since his promotion to the starting lineup on Nov. 12 (27) than in the entire rest of his career (22). Walsh also has missed just one shot from any distance over his last three outings, going 18-for-19.
At the other end, the Celtics held the Lakers to 17 first-quarter points on 23.1% shooting, including an 0-for-5 start from Reaves. Boston took a 22-point lead into the second quarter, then stretched it to 29.
The Celtics’ bench players all shot the ball well in the first half — Hauser, Anfernee Simons, Josh Minott and Baylor Scheierman attempted exclusively 3-pointers and went 7-for-11 — and even after some misguided fouls late in the second quarter, Boston entered halftime up 69-46.
Brown caught fire early in the third quarter, draining his first three 3-pointers of the game on three consecutive Celtics possessions. The rest of the quarter was choppier for Boston. White committed turnovers on back-to-back trips, the C’s young wings had trouble keeping Reaves off the foul line and LA closed the frame with an 8-0 run that included two Brown giveaways.
But the Lakers lacked the firepower to muster a true comeback bid. Up 97-82 at the start of the fourth, the Celtics got consecutive threes from Walsh, White and Hauser to reestablish control. Walsh’s four made triples in the game were a career high. Boston outscored LA by 28 points over his 26 minutes.
“He’s been great,” said Brown, who advocated for Walsh’s move to the starting five. “I don’t want to boost his head up too much. I don’t want him to start getting cute. He’s got to still take care of the details. But he’s been doing a good job.”
The Celtics cruised from there to maintain the Eastern Conference’s longest active win streak and close out a stretch of five games in seven nights. Five of their last six wins were against the Magic, Pistons, Cavaliers, Knicks and Lakers — all likely playoff teams. The sixth was a 45-point demolition of last-place Washington.
Only two teams — Denver and Houston — entered Friday with a better offensive rating than the Celtics, who were expected to struggle this season without injured superstar Jayson Tatum. Only the Thunder, Rockets, Nuggets and Knicks boasted a better net rating.
“I like our energy and effort. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Pritchard said. “It’s funny. Our offense is third, but I still feel like we have another step that we can even go. So that will be exciting.”
Boston will face another team that’s exceeding expectations in the East, the third-place Toronto Raptors, on Sunday (3:30 p.m.).
Other observations:
— James, a Celtics nemesis since some of Boston’s current players were toddlers, received a smattering of boos when he walked from the tunnel to the Lakers bench early in the first quarter.
The Garden crowd began chanting for James’ son and teammate (“We want Bronny”) with the Celtics up big late in the third quarter. They got their wish when Lakers head coach JJ Redick sent in his deep reserves with 6:38 remaining, and each of the younger James’ two baskets drew loud cheers.
— White retreated toward the locker room after taking a spill beneath the basket midway through the first quarter, but he quickly returned to the bench.
— Neemias Queta gave an assist to the arena staff, using a mop and his 7-foot frame to free a ball that was lodged at the top of the backboard. It was another light night for the Celtics center’s backups, as Boston continued to utilize smaller lineups when Queta was off the floor. Luka Garza, Xavier Tillman and Amari Williams didn’t check in until garbage time.
