Davis stops the slide for Lakers' revenge

BOSTON • Anthony Davis scored 27 points to fuel the Los Angeles Lakers, who ended their two-game National Basketball Association (NBA) losing streak in dramatic style on Saturday with a 96-95 win over the Celtics.

A well-rested Davis, who sat out the Lakers' loss to the Pistons in Detroit on Thursday with a bruised thigh, added 14 rebounds for the champions. LeBron James finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers bounced back after two straight losses, including to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"We're a team that takes pride in not losing two in a row and we lost two in a row," Davis said. "For damn sure we weren't losing three in a row."

It was a close-run game, however. Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Celtics and Jaylen Brown added 28 points.

It was a one-point game when Boston's Marcus Smart departed with 10 minutes 28 seconds remaining after a fall that the Celtics said caused him to suffer a calf strain.

James drained a three-pointer to put the Lakers up 88-85 with 5:25 remaining and the Lakers pushed the lead to as many as seven points before Boston again narrowed the gap.

Tatum cut the deficit to 96-95 with 32.8 seconds remaining but his team could not force overtime, with teammate Kemba Walker suffering the second-worst shooting game of his career, putting up just four points.

Walker also missed what would have been a game-winning shot and Daniel Theis whiffed on the follow up.

The victory was especially satisfying, Davis said, not necessarily for the history between clubs that own 17 NBA titles apiece but because of what happened when they played in Boston last March.

"We got a little revenge," the All-Star said. "This team beat us by 30 the last time we were in this building."

It also came down to wire in Chicago, where Portland's Damian Lillard drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Trail Blazers a 123-122 victory over the Bulls. In Miami, it was similarly close as Jimmy Butler returned from a 10-game absence due to the league's coronavirus protocols to score 30 points in the Heat's 105-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS