One night later, Boston players all but shrugged their shoulders after falling to the Lakers 117-96 on the second leg of a back-to-back. Kristaps Porziņģis, who has been critical of the Celtics after their worst games recently, sounded ready to dump the latest poor result into the nearest trash can and forget about it for good.

Playing their fifth game in seven nights, the Celtics were run off the Crypto.com Arena court by LeBron James and Co., losing 117-96. It was the most lopsided defeat of the season for Boston, which came in riding a two-game win streak. The Celtics dropped to 31-14 on the season and 10-9 in their last 19 games.

Playing without six of their top eight rotation players, Derrick Jones Jr., Kevin Porter Jr and Amir Coffey lead a gutty effort as the hosts push the reigning champs until the end in a 117-113