Celtics Vs Lakers: Pritchard’s 30 Powers Boston to 111-89 Win in Los Angeles
In a dominant showing at Crypto. com Arena, the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-89 on Feb. 22, 2026, a result that underlined the club’s standing in this season’s celtics vs lakers rivalry. Payton Pritchard scored 30 points off the bench, and Boston’s late first-half surge and three-quarter defensive clampdown turned the game into a rout.
Celtics Vs Lakers at Crypto. com Arena
The game followed a Pat Riley statue dedication that filled the arena and set a charged tone. Riley urged the Lakers to respond to their biggest rival, and the Lakers entered the contest with LeBron James and Luka Dončić listed as fully healthy. Instead, the Celtics answered on the floor: Boston outscored the Lakers 8-3 over the final minute of the second quarter to turn a five-point edge into a 60-50 halftime lead, a swing capped by Pritchard’s long 3-point buzzer-beater.
Payton Pritchard’s sixth-man surge
Pritchard, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, started the season in the rotation and has returned to a full-time bench role. That change has coincided with a scoring uptick—he surpassed 20 points for the sixth time in his last seven outings—and he finished with 30 points in this game. He drew attention throughout: attacking Austin Reaves in transition to secure a three-for-two opportunity in the second quarter, hitting a stepback 3 over Reaves in the fourth, and switching directions three times three minutes into the fourth before finishing with a 15-foot jumper after spinning into Jake LaRavia.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White’s roles in the run
Boston’s half-ending 8-3 stretch involved multiple hands. Jaylen Brown disrupted a Luka Dončić drive and then helped set up a Derrick White 3-pointer; on the final possession of the half Brown jumped and found Pritchard well behind the arc, leading to the buzzer triple. Brown’s steadiness beside Pritchard’s flash was cited as a pairing that sustained the Celtics’ momentum throughout the second half.
Joe Mazzulla on momentum and the upcoming trip to Phoenix
Coach Joe Mazzulla credited recognition and execution for the pivotal possessions. “I thought it was really good recognition by Payton, Derrick and JB, ” Mazzulla said, adding that the sequence “gave us a little momentum heading into the second half. ” He also cautioned about maintaining the level of play, pointing ahead to a Tuesday trip to Mortgage Matchup Center to face Phoenix, a team described as missing Devin Booker for that matchup. “We have to find a way to do it at Phoenix, ” Mazzulla said. “If it’s a short-term thing, if it’s an extrinsic thing that gets you there, it’s going to be very hard to turn that into an intrinsic one 48 hours from now. ”
Pat Riley ceremony, crowd flare and Lakers’ reaction
The pregame ceremony honoring Pat Riley, now 80 and serving as president of the Heat, amplified the spectacle; Riley urged the Lakers to “kick some Boston” in his remarks. Mazzulla reacted with visible amusement when told of Riley’s comments: “He said that? Man, I wish I would have heard that. That’s fun. That’s awesome. Damn. ” During the game Pritchard directed a celebratory shout toward Reggie Miller, who was announcing the contest for Peacock, and earlier in the first half he may have shoved Jarred Vanderbilt before drilling a triple in front of the Celtics bench.
Defense, margin and game-ending sequence
After the halftime run, Boston suffocated the Lakers defensively for the final three quarters, a stretch that translated into a widening lead and a decisive late margin. Pritchard’s fourth-quarter stepback for a 22-point lead with 3: 22 remaining effectively closed the contest. The Celtics’ defense and bench scoring combined to produce the 111-89 final score on Feb. 22, 2026—coming three nights after Boston had beaten Golden State in a game in which Stephen Curry did not play.
What makes this notable is how the role adjustment—moving Pritchard back to the bench after the trade of Anfernee Simons—had an immediate, measurable effect: it balanced Boston’s rotation, supplied a secondary playmaker, and produced a string of high-impact performances that have included six 20-point games in seven outings.
With multiple contributors involved in the signature plays—Pritchard’s shooting, Brown’s playmaking, White’s spacing—and with Mazzulla already warning about the challenge of sustaining the performance, the Celtics left Los Angeles with a statement win that reshaped the narrative around this season’s rivalry.
