Jaylen Brown, Celtics blow out Lakers while LeBron James, Luka Doncic sit

Fans hoping to see LeBron James and Luka Doncic play in Boston for the only time this season left TD Garden disappointed Friday night But the crowd s loss was the Celtics gain Boston had no trouble dispatching the shorthanded Lakers who were playing without James sciatica foot Doncic personal reasons and ex-Celtic Marcus Smart back The Celtics won - to claim their fourth straight mastery and ninth in their last games Jaylen Brown back after sitting out Thursday s blowout win over the Wizards with an illness paced the Celtics with points on -of- shooting eight rebounds and eight assists Derrick White scored points on -of- including -of- from -point range and Jordan Walsh again impressed with points -for- -for- from three four rebounds two blocks and one steal All five Boston starters scored in double figures as did Sam Hauser who went -for- from deep off the bench As a association the Celtics shot from the field and a season-best from beyond the arc The Lakers got points from likely first-time All-Star Austin Reaves with of those coming on free throws but not nearly enough from his depleted supporting cast The Celtics never trailed in the win which improved their record to - LA fell to - The first quarter was a Boston beatdown The Celtics shot -for- from -point range assisted on of their made basket and committed just two turnovers White and Brown each scored nine points in the opening period with the former continuing his resurgence as a shooter and the latter drawing three early fouls Walsh opened the scoring with a -pointer and later converted an and-one layup Finishing at and around the rim is one of the a large number of improvements the -year-old has shown this season He s made more baskets inside the restricted area since his promotion to the starting lineup on Nov than in the entire rest of his career A missed three late in the first snapped a streak of consecutive made field goals for Walsh At the other end the Celtics held the Lakers to first-quarter points on shooting including an -for- start from Reaves Boston took a -point lead into the second quarter then stretched it to The Celtics bench players all shot the ball well in the first half Hauser Anfernee Simons Josh Minott and Baylor Scheierman attempted exclusively -pointers and went -for- and even after particular misguided fouls late in the second quarter Boston entered halftime up - Brown caught fire early in the third quarter draining his first three -pointers of the tournament on three consecutive Celtics possessions The rest of the quarter was choppier for Boston White committed turnovers on back-to-back trips the C s young wings had trouble keeping Reaves off the foul line and LA closed the frame with an - run that included two Brown giveaways But the Lakers lacked the firepower to muster a true comeback bid Up - at the start of the fourth the Celtics got consecutive threes from Walsh White and Hauser to reestablish control Walsh s four made triples in the event were a career high Boston outscored LA by points over his minutes Minott and Simons posted more modest stat lines but finished plus- and plus- respectively The Celtics cruised from there to maintain the Eastern Conference s longest progressing win streak Five of their last six wins were against the Magic Pistons Cavaliers Knicks and Lakers all likely playoff teams The sixth was a -point demolition of last-place Washington Boston will face another company that s exceeding expectations in the East the third-place Toronto Raptors on Sunday Other observations James a Celtics nemesis since a few of Boston s current players were toddlers received a smattering of boos when he walked from the tunnel to the Lakers bench early in the first quarter The Garden crowd began chanting for James son and teammate We want Bronny with the Celtics up big late in the third quarter They got their wish when Lakers head coach JJ Redick sent in his deep reserves with remaining and each of the younger James two baskets drew loud cheers White retreated toward the locker room after taking a spill beneath the basket midway through the first quarter but he rapidly returned to the bench Neemias Queta gave an assist to the arena staff using a mop and his -foot frame to free a ball that was lodged at the top of the backboard It was another light night for the Celtics center s backups as Boston continued to utilize smaller lineups when Queta was off the floor Luka Garza Xavier Tillman and Amari Williams didn t check in until garbage time