On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Boston Celtics in an effort to get back on track after suffering crushing defeats in their previous two games.

Playing against one of the best teams in the NBA is difficult enough—the Lakers have only lost two of their home games this season—but they also had to overcome the absence of their two best players, Anthony Davis and LeBron James, who were both hampered by injury. best the odds were against the Lakers this season, but they still gave it their best and prevailed 114-105.

With six points in the first quarter, Jaylen Brown of the Celtics got the squad going, despite the Lakers having a high early energy level as well. After a deep shot by Austin Reaves and a slam by Jarred Vanderbilt, the Lakers lead 11–10.

During a Celtics timeout, the Lakers expanded their advantage with five straight baskets, and Jayson Tatum’s three-pointer broke the Celtics’ losing run.

But L.A. never gave up as they forced errors and pounded the offensive boards to extend their lead to nine points. Sam Hauser scored two straight three-pointers to seal the quarter for the Celtics, but Jrue Holiday beat the buzzer to cut the Lakers’ advantage to 28–25.

Christian Wood and D’Angelo Russell, both of whom made long-range shots, helped the Lakers respond with an 8-0 run, but the Celtics continued to score in the second quarter to retake the lead.

Max Christie got two more points, Reaves and Russell continued to be effective, and Tatum eventually began making long-range shots as the Lakers continued to dominate. With Vanderbilt involved as well, the Lakers led by 60 points at the half. He was everywhere on the court.

But Vanderbilt appeared to hurt his leg during a play that ended without contact at the end of the second quarter. Rui Hachimura took his spot as the team’s nightly starter after he was unable to start the third quarter.

The Lakers’ outstanding performance continued into the third quarter as Reaves continued to make three-pointers and Jaxson Hayes put in a lot of effort inside.

However, Boston eventually pulled off a 17–7 comeback to cut their deficit to just ten points. Russell had a few standout minutes that enabled the Lakers to retake the lead. Christie’s game-winning shot put the Lakers ahead by ten points (88–78) going into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics had began the fourth quarter with four straight points, but Hachimura responded with five straight points of his own to force another Boston timeout.

By the time the final seconds drew near, the Lakers were just trying to hang on while the Celtics started to gain ground. Nevertheless, the Lakers continued to get important shots from unsung heroes like Hayes and Hachimura.

Later in the game, Russell put the icing on top with a big three-pointer that gave the Lakers a much-needed victory.