The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 122-118 on Tuesday night despite blowing a 20-point lead midway through the second half and falling behind late by 13 points. The Boston Celtics overcame a late 13-point deficit thanks to Jayson Tatum’s 44 points per game and Jaylen Brown’s 25 points, including five in overtime.

 

With the help of 18 points and four 3-pointers from Marcus Smart, the NBA-leading Celtics avoided their first three-game losing pattern of the season to finish their six-game trip.

 

With 28 seconds left in regulation, Anthony Davis, who had 37 points and 12 rebounds, also missed two free throws, giving the Celtics a chance to tie the game. In a memorable episode of the storied rivalry between the 17-time champion teams that new Lakers coach Darvin Ham dubbed “the two pillars of our league,” LeBron James scored 33 points.

 

The Lakers went on a 45-12 run midway through the third quarter of the tumultuous second half of the game between the rivals to overcome an 81-61 deficit. With a 17-4 run that ended with Tatum’s tying jumper with 17 points and 0.8 seconds remaining, Boston then overcame Los Angeles’ 106-93 head in the final 3:40.

 

Los Angeles’ Russell Westbrook finished with 20 points and 14 assists, but he also missed three open jump shots in overtime as the Celtics pulled away with 12 straight points. The Lakers’ slow-starting season was given life in their first match back from a six-game trip when they suffered their fourth loss in five games.

 

After the break, James led Los Angeles with 22 points, but with 45.8 seconds left, Smart made his fourth 3-pointer to cut the Lakers’ lead to 110-108.

 

After missing a potential game-winning free throw with 3:07 remaining in regulation of what ended up being an overtime loss for the Lakers at Philadelphia last Friday, Davis then sank two more free throws.

 

James missed a 3-point attempt at the end of regulation, Tatum calmly tied it with a 14-footer from close to the baseline.