Los Angeles Lakers Beat Boston Celtics in Mid-Season Classic

The Boston Celtics started the night with a 12-game winning streak and the best record in the NBA. When their game with the Lakers ended, they had the second-best record in the NBA and another busted winning streak.

It wasn’t quite the same Lakers team that ended the Celtics 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day. That Lakers team had Andrew Bynum clogging up the center spot.

They also had a more efficient Kobe Bryant. Tonight the Lakers MVP lofted up 29 shots and missed 19 of them.

On Christmas Day, they also had more efficient foul shooting. Tonight the Lakers had 29 free throw attempts and missed a dozen. The Celtics only missed three.

So how did the Lakers manage to pull a stunning 110-109 overtime upset in the Boston Garden in another classic Lakers-Celtics match up?

What the Lakers did have tonight was a more aggressive Pau Gasol. Playing for Spain’s silver medal team in the Summer Olympics has taken his game to a new level.

Taking up some of the slack in the middle caused by Bynum’s absence, Gasol put in 24 points on 10 of 14 shooting and snared a game-high 14 rebounds.

Bryant also grabbed 10 rebounds to go with his game-high 26 points. But what turned the game around for the Lakers was Lamar Odom.

Does Odom realize just how good he is?

Probably not. He has been labeled as inconsistent and deservedly so. For example, he started tonight’s game and had only two points and no rebounds in the first half. Then suddenly a light went off in the second half, and so did Odom.

He suddenly realized he was every bit as good if not better than those guys in the white and green uniforms. By the end of the game, he had accounted for 20 points and six rebounds, including the game-clinching free throws.

Celtics fans might point out that the offiiciating wasn’t great. That’s true. In fact, it was pretty shabby, but the bad calls went both ways.

They might also allude to the fact that Kevin Garnet and Paul Pierce were fighting off the flu bug. That’s true as well. But sick or not, Pierce still wound up with 21 points and Garnett added another 16 to go along with Ray Allen’s team-high 22.

But let’s not forget, the Lakers were playing their third road game in four nights. It was oblivious that Bryant’s legs were shot. After scoring 61 in New York and coming back with another 36 points last night in Toronto, Bryant knew he didn’t have much left in the tank.

"We didn’t play our best basketball at all, not even close," Bryant said after the game, " but we still won."

But it was close enough to give the Lakers the best road record in the NBA 18-5 as well as the best record overall. Phil Jackson is always urging his teams to win 49 before they lose 20.

Well, tonight a tired Lakers squad gave Jackson a pleasant surprise. They won 40 before losing 10.