In the latest installment of the NBA's greatest rivalry between its two most successful franchises, Isaiah Thomas' 38 points fueled the Boston Celtics to a 113-107 over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night from TD Garden.Thomas entered Friday coming off two consecutive 40-plus-point performances and had a chance to become the first player in Celtics franchise history to score 40 or more in three straight games, although he fell just one basket short.He scored 17 of those 38 points in the fourth quarter as he continued to build his case as to why he's an elite player in the NBA thanks to his ability to finish games strong.According to ESPN.com's Chris Forsberg, Thomas was averaging a league-best 10.5 points in the fourth quarter as one of the game's best closers.While the Lakers had been struggling recently, they came out fast on the road thanks to some hot three-point shooting. In the first quarter alone, they hit five of eight three-point attempts as the NBA showed Nick Young (17 points) reveling in quieting the Boston crowd:Behind Thomas' 12, the Celtics had no problems keeping up and trailed by one when Terry Rozier nailed a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first quarter, via the NBA:Once Los Angeles' shooting cooled, Boston nabbed the lead behind seven straight points from Jaylen Brown and stayed there for the remainder of the game.After starting the night 8-of-12 from three, the Lakers hit six of their last 26 attempts.Lou Williams led his team with 21 points off the bench, while D'Angelo Russell added another 20 in the loss.Boston's ability to hold the lead was also abetted by some sloppy Los Angeles play that presented simple scoring chances, via the NBA:Thomas only had two points in the second quarter, but they came in the final seconds to give the Celtics an 11-point halftime lead, via the NBA:The Celtics didn't have many problems holding on to their advantage in the second half, although they had an opportunity to put the game away.Leading by as much as 17, the Celtics surrendered an 11-2 run to the Lakers to cut it to single digits heading in to the fourth quarter and Thomas' territory.They needed all of his 17 points in the final 12 minutes as Los Angeles' ability to outhustle the Celtics gave the visitors numerous opportunities to make it far closer than a two-possession game.While the Celtics have been enjoying success near the top of the Eastern Conference this year, the Lakers have struggled in the West, especially on the road. This latest loss to Boston proved to be Los Angeles' 12th straight loss away from Staples Center.Regardless of their varying successes this season, it's done little to separate the two teams all-time heading in to Friday night, via ESPN Stats & Info:The win is Boston's sixth in a row and 19th in its last 25 games, as it overtook the Toronto Raptors for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.It ensured that Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and his staff would head down to New Orleans to coach the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
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