Jayson Tatum had 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, helping the Boston Celtics defeat the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 111-101 in a game where LeBron James exited the contest with an injury.
Jaylen Brown added 31 points and six rebounds for the Celtics, who also received 14 points and nine rebounds from Al Horford in the Saturday night blockbuster clash between the NBA’s two winningest franchises.
James, who had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, left the game with a groin strain with 6:44 remaining in the fourth quarter and did not return.
James, 40, told reporters the injury would be treated “day-to-day” and added that there was “not much concern”.
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 34 points and eight rebounds. He made five of 10 three-point attempts.
Austin Reaves was the only other Laker who scored in double figures with 16 points.
Los Angeles trailed by 22 points in the second half but was within four points after two Doncic free throws made it 96-92 with 5:06 to play. The Lakers failed to get any closer, however, and Boston was able to pull away to secure the victory.
The loss ended the Lakers’ eight-game winning streak. They dropped down to third place in the Western Conference with a 41-22 record.
Boston improved to 46-18 to remain second in the Eastern Conference, seven and a half games behind leaders Cleveland.
The post LeBron James exits with injury in Lakers’ loss to Celtics appeared first on Al Jazeera.
