Tatum scores 40, Celtics beat Lakers 111-101 after James leaves late with groin injury

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, and the Boston Celtics held off a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-101 on Saturday night.

With LeBron James in the locker room with a strained groin, the Lakers cut a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to single digits. But Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored Boston’s final 12 points to preserve the win.

Brown added 31 points as the Celtics earned their fourth straight victory.

James finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists before exiting midway through the fourth quarter as the Lakers had their eight-game Los Angeles win streak.

Luka Doncic had 34 points and eight rebounds in his first game in Boston since he and the Dallas Mavericks lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals as Boston clinched its 18th championship.

Takeaways

Lakers: Things fell apart in a third quarter in which they showed very little connectivity on offense. It’s clearly something that’s still missing at times with the addition of Doncic.

Celtics: Jrue Holiday return after missing four straight games with mallet finger in his right pinkie. But center Kristaps Porzingis sat for the fifth consecutive game with an illness.

Key moment

The TD Garden crowd was brought to its feet with 3:50 left in the first quarter when Brown stripped Doncic, led a fast break and found a streaking Al Horford for a two-handed slam.

Horford’s momentum caused him to swing forward, and he inadvertently kneed a trailing Doncic in the head as he swung back. No foul was called on the play, though Doncic was clearly irritated by the collision.