Payton Pritchard erupts as Celtics win pick up third straight win

· Yahoo Sports

The Boston Celtics continued their West Coast trip coming out of the All-Star break, taking on the Los Angeles Lakers on a night where Pat Riley was honored with his own statue at Crypto.com Arena. While the fanfare and ceremony had a great atmosphere around the Lakers, the Celtics controlled the game and picked up their second straight win coming out of the break.

Boston was carried by Payton Pritchard who had an explosive game off the bench, as he was one of two Celtics players, including Jaylen Brown, who had at least 30 points in the victory. The NBA's most historic rivalry came had it all, with plenty of physicality between superstar players on both ends, and in the end, Boston made an emphatic statement.

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Here's a quick recap of the Celtics win on Sunday night:

Final score: Boston Celtics 111, Los Angeles Lakers 89

Keys to the game:

Payton Pritchard: Coming off the bench once again, Pritchard set the tone and delivered a great performance against the Lakers. Playing 38 minutes and scoring 30 points on 10-14 shooting, adding 8 assists in the game, Pritchard did whatever he wanted through out the night and Los Angeles had no answer for him all game.

Three-point shooting: Boston's pace and tempo on offensive was one of the biggest keys coming into the game and it proved to be in their favor with the 3-point ball. Boston made 5 more 3-point shots than the Lakers did, and shot 39% from deep compared to just 30% for Los Angeles.

Rebounding: One of the biggest standout points for the Celtics over their last few games has been their dominance in the paint, particularly in rebounding. Grabbing 50 rebounds compared to LA's 39, Boston grabbed 10 more defensive rebounds and had 9 on the glass as well.

Highlight of the game: Payton Pritchard drops Lakers defender with nasty step-back

What's next: @ Phoenix Suns, Tuesday, February 24, 9:00PM ET

The third game of Boston's four-game trip will be their first matchup against the Phoenix Suns this season. Phoenix is one of the tougher teams in the Western Conference, but they're going to be without both Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks who both suffered injuries coming out of the All-Star break. Boston should be the betting favorites coming into the first of two matchups between them this year,.

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Payton Pritchard erupts as Celtics win pick up third straight win

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