Celtics Wrap: Boston Ends Road Trip With Christmas Day Win Over Lakers

The Boston Celtics snagged a Christmas Day victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, 126-115, at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.

With the win, the Celtics improved to 23-6 while the Lakers dropped to 16-15.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston opened up the night by flexing its scoring muscle and taking a 30-12 lead in the first quarter, but Los Angeles refused to go down without a holiday fight.

Pouring a jaw-dropping 289 points in their last two games, the Celtics aimed to similarly attack the scoreboard, but there was one key issue. Boston didn’t knock down 3-point shots nearly as effectively and that previous strength that dominated the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers backfired on the Celtics and helped the Lakers.

To put it simply, the first half was ugly.

The Celtics shot just 6-of-23 from beyond the arc by halftime, squandering a handful of opportunities to make the extra reads necessary to find better-quality shot attempts. That’s been an issue at multiple points early on this season in which Boston resorts to the easy, lazy and at many times, costly choice in tossing up deep shots instead of either going inside or setting the offense for a more favorable play.

Nevertheless, the Lakers weren’t able to threaten the scoring race for long.

The momentum of a 41-point third quarter proved to be enough for the Celtics to get back to playing their brand of basketball — on both ends of the floor — and prevent Los Angeles from a bid at overtime.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla’s starting unit was responsible for 108 of the team’s total points. Six different Boston players finished in double figures and the C’s officially wrapped up their West Coast road trip taking three of four.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Kristaps Porzingis did a little bit of everything, scoring a team-leading 28 points with 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Porzingis made his return after missing Saturday night’s game against the Clippers.

— Lakers forward Anthony Davis put on a show, also finishing with a double-double. Davis scored a game-leading 40 points with 13 rebounds.

— Derrick White was on-brand with yet another efficient performance, notching an 18-point and 11-assist double-double while shooting 8-of-13 from the field plus two blocks.

WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set the odds of Porzingis finishing with at least 10 rebounds at +260, and that proved to be no challenge for the 7-foot-3 veteran at all. After three quarters, Porzingis reached 10 exactly, clearing those odds as Boston’s frontcourt leader. A $100 wager placed on Porzingis would’ve resulted in a $360 total payout.

UP NEXT
The Celtics, now riding a three-game winning streak, will return home Thursday night to host the Eastern Conference-worst Detroit Pistons at TD Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.