Kemba Walker on Monday finally beat LeBron James, and he did it by helping the Boston Celtics send the Los Angeles Lakers to their biggest loss of the season.
Walker ended a career-long losing streak against James, scoring 20 points to beat him for the first time in 29 tries and lead the Celtics past the Lakers 139-107.
“I’m happy I got one at least, before he goes,” Walker said with a laugh after the Celtics snapped their three-game losing streak. “Who knows how long he can play, because he’s just incredible, but you know, it’s only one. One and 28.”
Jaylen Brown scored 20 points, drawing a taunting technical after dunking over James, while Enes Kanter had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Boston.
The Celtics gave up the first eight points of the game, but turned things around when Anthony Davis, playing for the first time in almost two weeks, went to the bench with a pair of fouls 49 seconds apart early in the first quarter.
“The less he plays, the better for everybody else,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
James had 15 points and 13 assists for the Lakers, who had won 10 of their previous 11 games.
However, the Celtics made 13 of their first 22 three-point attempts to open a 103-75 lead in the third quarter — the biggest against Los Angeles all season until Boston made it a 34-point game in the fourth.
“We were fortunate to put the ball in the basket quite a bit,” said Stevens, whose team shot 56 percent overall. “The ball going in masks some things.”
Walker’s 28 games without a win against James was second in NBA history only to Sherman Douglas’ 0-30 head-to-head record against Michael Jordan.
In other results, it was:
‧ Trail Blazers 129, Warriors 124
‧ 76ers 117, Nets 111
‧ Bucks 111, Bulls 98
‧ Thunder 112, Rockets 107
‧ Jazz 118, Pacers 88
‧ Nuggets 107, T’wolves 100
‧ Heat 118, Kings 113, OT
‧ Pelicans 126, Grizzlies 116
‧ Spurs 120, Suns 118
‧ Wizards 106, Pistons 100
‧ Raptors 122, Hawks 117
‧ Knicks 106, Cavaliers 86
‧ Magic 106, Hornets 83
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