NBA Game Summary - LA Lakers at Boston

Boston, MA (Basketball News) - Shaquille O’Neal poured in 28 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics, 117-109, at the FleetCenter.

Gary Payton scored 20 points and Kobe Bryant collected 18 points and 10 assists for Los Angeles. Bryant, who was just 4-of-16 from the floor, returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sprained right shoulder. He got hurt during a game against Seattle on March 5 and was expected to be sidelined for four weeks.

"It felt okay. It felt all right," said Bryant, who played with an NBA- approved brace on the shoulder. "The (Lakers medical staff) trust my decision- making. They knew I was ready to play. I felt I was ready to play and they let me go in there with (the injury)."

Kareem Rush netted 17 points for the Lakers, who have won six of their last eight games.

Paul Pierce paced Boston with 30 points. Ricky Davis had 24 points and Chucky Atkins contributed 19 points and eight assists for the Celtics, who had a season-high, six-game winning streak snapped.

Pierce’s two free throws with 9:52 remaining in the third quarter pulled the Celtics within 75-68. Los Angeles then went on an 11-4 run, ignited by O’Neal’s dunk, to increase its advantage to 86-72.

Boston was able to get within 89-82 on Chris Mihm’s foul shot with 10:47 left in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers again responded, scoring 14 of the next 22 points to take a seemingly comfortable 103-90 lead with six minutes remaining.

The Celtics again rallied and cut the deficit to 111-105 on Atkins’ layup with 1:57 left.

Boston then got the ball back following a turnover, but Atkins missed a three- point shot.

On the next possession for Los Angeles, O’Neal was left alone underneath for a dunk that sealed it.

"I think that the good thing about the loss tonight was that our guys competed throughout the game," said Celtics interim head coach John Carroll. "Even though we didn’t win the game, they fought hard and played hard, not hard enough and well enough to win, but we’ve had a good stretch and we need to regroup and gather some energy and get back on the same page and win on Friday night. That’s all we need to do."

The Lakers took control early, scoring 13 of the first 18 points of the game. Boston battled back and closed within 24-23 on Marcus Banks’ jumper with 2:23 left in the opening quarter.

Los Angeles eventually held a 32-28 advantage after 12 minutes.

Boston then began the second period with a 12-5 run, capped by Davis’ jumper, to take a 40-37 lead. However, the Lakers countered with a 16-5 burst, highlighted by three-pointers from Bryon Russell and Rush, to move back in front 53-45 with 4:31 remaining in the stanza.

Los Angeles stretched the margin to 10 points several times in the quarter and held a 68-60 advantage at the intermission. Payton ended the first half with 16 points, while Davis led the Celtics in the opening 24 minutes with 15.