– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — In the wildest dreams of both NBA nostalgics and recent lovers of the game, tonight’s contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the two franchises that have defined the league and its popularity more than any other in the Association’s near-80 years of existence, would provide everything that great rivalries are made of. Of course, not every anticipated event lives up to expectations, and the Lakers and Celtics could have given us a dud, or, at the very least, a delicious appetizer when expecting the main course.
What??? Who am I kidding. The players delivered! The villains villained while playing excellent foils. But the heroes in (green and) white threw the knockout punches that had the TD Garden crowd and anyone within an earshot of the arena or their viewing device yelling for more!
And that was just by halftime.
In the end, the reigning top dynamic duo in the NBA, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, upstaged the recent union of mega powers in LeBron James and Luka Doncic as the Boston Celtics stopped the streaking Los Angeles Lakers 111-101 in a thrilling matchup worthy of the primetime slot that it occupied. Boston has now won 10 of its last 12 games, rounding into championship form at just the right time.
Tatum delivered crescendo after crescendo at the ends of multiple quarters on his way to 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. His fellow high-scoring All-Star running mate, Jaylen Brown, scored 31 points, using a technical foul that caused his head coach, Joe Mazzulla, to escort him back to the bench as fuel to go on a scoring spree in the second quarter.
In his first game as a Laker in the storied rivalry, Luka Doncic scored 34 points on 11-of-22 shooting while making five three-pointers. LeBron James was one assist shy of a triple-double — 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists — before leaving the game in the fourth quarter due to a groin strain.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 25 pictures in total.
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