The Celtics rolled into Crypto.com Arena on Sunday night and spanked the Lakers, 111-89 in dominant fashion, almost from start to finish. By the end of the night, the stats mounted up. It’s easy to look at Jaylen Brown putting up another MVP-level performance with 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists or Payton Pritchard with 30 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists, and point to those contributions as big reasons for the win, which they certainly were.
But this game was won on the defensive end and on the glass with Boston’s relentless effort, energy, and intensity.