ISAIAH Thomas had a big fourth quarter to lead the streaking Boston Celtics to its sixth straight win with a 113-107 victory against the slumping Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night (Saturday, Manila time).
Thomas scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter. Al Horford added 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Boston.
Jae Crowder had 18 points for the Celtics (32-18), Jaylen Brown added 12 and Terry Rozier chipped in 10.
D'Angelo Russell and Lou Williams each scored 20 points for the Lakers. Larry Nance Jr. had 18 and Nick Young 17 as Los Angeles (17-36) lost for the fifth time in six games.
Long-time rivals Boston and Los Angeles were both tied with 3,252 wins prior to the game, the most in NBA history.
After Toronto lost to Orlando earlier, Celtics coach Brad Stevens was guaranteed as the coach of the Eastern Conference in the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans next week.
Thomas scored seven points in the third period as the Celtics broke the game open and led by as many as 16. The Lakers cut it to 82-74 after three but couldn't get the deficit below six.
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