Celtics show some solid mettle in comeback win vs. Lakers

BOSTON -- The Celtics nearly closed their six-game road trip on an extremely sour note, blowing a 20-point lead to the Los Angeles Lakers. But Boston's stars would not let it happen.

A comeback win over the lowly Lakers shouldn't really be celebrated, not when the team nearly collapsed and stumbled to a third straight win. But the Celtics -- led by their three-headed dragon of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart -- showed a ton of resiliency to steal back an encouraging victory.

It's a mettle-building, character win that you want to see out of a team, even if it came against a not-so-great opponent. On the second night of a back-to-back to close out an 11-day trip, Boston had plenty of excuses to just let the win slip away. The team had tired legs and, for a large stretch, tired minds, essentially handing the game over to Los Angeles. 

After building a 20-point edge midway through the third quarter, the Celtics were stunned with a 33-point swing by the Lakers. It was 15 minutes of ugly basketball, with Boston turning it over nine times. The Celtics made just four of their 22 attempts -- including a goose egg on their nine three-point tries -- and watched L.A. turn that big deficit into a 13-point lead.

But with 3:40 left in regulation, the stars took over. After Grant Williams drained a three off a feed from Tatum, Smart swiped a bad pass from LeBron and turned it into an easy layup. That kickstarted a 17-4 Boston run to force overtime. 

Smart and Tatum both scored seven points during the run, going a combined 5-for-5 from the floor, with Tatum draining the signature shot of the night. Trailing by two after Anthony Davis missed a pair of free throws, Tatum went right at LeBron with the seconds winding down. He put on an array of moves to create some separation, and sank a lovely turnaround jumper over James to tie the game at 110 with 17.1 seconds left.

The make sent the game into overtime, and further cemented Tatum's MVP candidacy. He wanted the ball in that situation, and went right at James with the game on the line.  

Boston didn't have an overtime win entering Tuesday night, falling in their three previous games that required some extra basketball. But after the Lakers scored the first two buckets of OT, the Celtics rattled off a 12-0 run. It was Brown who delivered the dagger in the extra frame, draining a three with 53.1 seconds left to give Boston a 122-114 lead.

Tatum scored 44 points on Tuesday, a solid bounce-back after two rough showings against the Warriors and Clippers. He added nine rebounds and six assists. Brown was just as stellar, adding 25 points to go with a team-high 15 rebounds. Smart added 18 points and six assists.

"That shows the the true character of our team," Tatum said of the comeback win as he walked off the court. "That was a great win, I'm proud of the guys. Let's go home."

The Celtics have had much more impressive evenings where they've absolutely blown out their opponent. They've done that to good teams and they've done that to bad teams. But on Monday night, adversity knocked and the Celtics were there to answer. The opponent wasn't the toughest that the Celtics have faced, but bouncing back after what would have been an epic collapse showed some solid makeup with the team.

Now they get to return home on a high night following an impressive 4-2 road trip. The Celtics get to play their next seven games at TD Garden, as they look to add on to the NBA's best record.