BOSTON — The Boston Celtics rolled to their second straight victory over a long-time but fallen rival on Friday night.
After beating the Detroit Pistons in overtime on Wednesday night, the Celtics led almost throughout and disposed of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-96.
Center Tyler Zeller scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds, forward Jared Sullivan delivered 17 points and 13 boards and guard Rajon Rondo dished out 16 assists to power Boston (6-11).
It was the Celtics’ first win in eight games against the Western Conference.
Los Angeles (5-15), down by as many as 18 points through the third quarter, 14 in the fourth, closed to within nine with 7:49 left, but the Celtics used a 19-5 run to seal the deal.
Zeller was 10 of 11 from the floor, while Rondo, who scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, has 43 assists in the last three games. He shot just 6 of 17 from the floor Friday night. Forward Jeff Green added 19 points and guard Avery Bradley 16 in the win.
Rondo’s 16 assists were two more than the entire Lakers team.
Bryant, averaging 25.2 points per game in his regular season career against Boston, led the Lakers with 22 points, but the star guard was just 9 of 21 from the floor.
Guard Nick Young added 16 points and guard Jeremy Lin had 14, but didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
The first half was full of spurts. The Celtics used a 9-0 run to run out to a 15-7 lead through 4:38. They then used a 10-0 run to go up by 16 with 4:19 left in the first quarter. The Lakers came back with nine straight before the end of the quarter and got it down to seven.
Down by 13, Los Angeles ran off eight straight and Boston led by three before a 9-0 run ballooned it back to 12.
Lin then scored his first seven points of the game in the final 2:04 of the first half and the Celtics led by five at the break.
NOTES: Lakers G Kobe Bryant and Celtics G Rajon Rondo had breakfast together on Thursday. Bryant called it a “basketball geek” conversation, much of it about their two meetings in the NBA Finals — adding he wasn’t doing any recruiting for when Rondo is a free agent next summer. Sort of. “No, I haven’t thought about having any future teammates before,” he said, sarcastically. LA coach Byron Scott is old school and clearly wasn’t thrilled at the get-together. … Meanwhile, CSNNE, citing a league source, reported Rondo’s “first priority” is staying in Boston — and ESPN Los Angeles reported the Celtics want him. … Bryant came into the game needing 99 points to pass Michael Jordan and move into third place on the NBA’s career scoring list. … Celtics G Phil Pressey’s father, Paul, is a Lakers assistant. … LA G Jeremy Lin, a former Harvard star, got a huge ovation on Asian-American Night. … The Celtics host Paul Pierce and the Washington Wizards on Sunday, and the Lakers, who ended their three-game trip on Friday, are home to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
Cavaliers 105, Raptors 91
TORONTO — Forward LeBron James scored 24 points and added 13 assists and seven rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 105-91 on Friday to extend their winning streak to six games.
James had eight points and two assists in the third quarter when the Cavaliers (11-7) fell behind by a point before coming back to take a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter. It gave the Raptors (15-5) their third loss at home against nine wins.
Forward Tristan Thompson, a Toronto native, added 21 points and 14 rebounds while Kevin Love scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Guard Kyrie Irving chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds.
Forward Amir Johnson led the Raptors with a season-best 27 points and had seven rebounds. Guard Kyle Lowry scored 22 points and dished out nine assists while reserve forward James Johnson scored 11 points with six rebounds.
The Raptors, who entered the second half trailing by seven points, took a 58-57 lead nearly five minutes into the third quarter on Lowry’s 3-pointer. The Cavaliers answered by going on a 16-2 surge and led 76-64 at the end of the third quarter.
The Raptors cut the lead to six with 5:46 to play after forward Terrence Ross and guard Kyle Lowry hit successive 3-pointers. Thompson made two free throws with 4:4o to play to give Cleveland an eight-point lead and after a Raptors miss Thompson scored on a dunk on a pass from James.
Amir Johnson’s sunk cut the lead to six with two minutes left. Thompson made two free throws to restore the eight-point lead. Thompson took advantage of a travelling call on the Raptors to score on a hook shot to put the Cavaliers ahead by 10 with 1:08 to play.
Thompson made the final two points of the first quarter, following Love’s 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 30-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.