LOS ANGELES – The Boston Celtics handed LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers their worst defeat of the NBA season on Monday (Tuesday, Manila time), routing the Western Conference leaders, 107-139.
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, and Kemba Walker returned from injury to add 20 for the Celtics, who snapped a three-game skid with the upset triumph.
Enes Kanter came off the bench to score 18 points and pull down 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who had lost six of their past eight games.
"Listen, it was just a good, old-fashioned butt-whipping, that's all," said James, who scored 15 points and handed out 18 assists for the Lakers — who had won 10 of their last 11.
"They beat us in all facets of the game," added James, who said 15 Lakers turnovers leading to 28 Celtics points and Boston's 48-36 rebounding advantage were too much to overcome.
The Celtics spoiled the return from injury of Anthony Davis, who missed five games with a bruised backside suffered during an in-game fall.
For Walker, it was a first career win against James. He'd gone 0-28 in prior games against James-led teams.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat needed overtime to stay in second place in the East, rallying from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to win, 118-113.
The Heat, trailing the Bucks by eight games, remained a game in front of the reigning champion Toronto Raptors, who pushed their winning streak to four games with a 122-117 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta.
Houston's Russell Westbrook notched another iconic triple-double moment, but his 32-point, 11-rebound, 12-assist performance for the Rockets wasn't enough in a 112-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Westbrook played his first 11 seasons for Oklahoma City, and they were the only team he hadn't recorded a triple-double against.
He joined James as the only players in NBA history to notch a triple-double against every team in the league.
But the Thunder, aided by 28 points from Chris Paul and 25 from Danilo Gallinari, erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to grab the win.