Celtics, 107-94 (final)
Make it seven.
The Celtics haven’t lost in seven home games this season, and that streak was never in doubt against the overmatched Lakers tonight.
Kendrick Perkins had a huge game for the Celtics, taking advantage of some great feeds by his teammates. But Perkins was also assertive on his way to a career-high 21 points and 9 rebounds.
Perkins, whose previous career-high was 17, took it straight to L.A. defenders and scored at key times to get the crowd involved. He is learning he does indeed have a role in the offense, and tonight he took advantage.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists. Kevin Garnett, who has recorded a double-double in all but one game this year (at home against New Jersey), had another one with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Like most of their home games this season, the Celtics built a double-digit lead at halftime and never looked back. The lead was never less than 13 points in the third, and the Celtics led by 18 points at the end of the period.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points. Bryant cut the lead to 12 points with 5:28 left, and a Jordan Farmer three-pointer cut the lead to nine. But Perkins came up huge, scoring on a feed from Rajon Rondo and then on another from Pierce to put the lead back up to 12 and to put the game out of reach.
We’ll have plenty of postgame reaction from the locker rooms in a bit.
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