BOSTON _ More than half of the fourth quarter remained when the Los Angeles Lakers began to admit defeat.
LeBron James sat, so did Anthony Davis, and the Celtics began pulling their starters, too. They led the Lakers by 31 points _ the largest lead any team had on the Lakers all season.
On the parquet floor against their hated rivals, there were few friendly faces, and much of the crowd at TD Garden kept the arena packed in garbage time to revel in the one-night derailing of one of the league's hottest teams. The Lakers came into the game having won 10 of their last 11 games, including four of five without Anthony Davis, and the Celtics came into the game on a three-game losing streak. But their recent history wasn't predictive. The Celtics (28-14) beat the Lakers (34-9), 139-107.
Davis returned after a five-game absence and finished with nine points, two assists and four rebounds. James scored 15 points with 13 assists and seven rebounds. Boston was led by Jayson Tatum, who scored 27 points with five rebounds and three assists. Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker also notched 20 points each for the Celtics. It was the first time in his career _ out of 29 tries _ that Walker won a game against James.
The Lakers are 10-4 against the top seven teams in the Western Conference, but have now lost to four of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference _ Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston and Indiana _ and three of the top five teams in the Western Conference _ the Clippers twice, Denver and Dallas.
