Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla enjoyed his front row seat to Al Horford's defensive clinic versus LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers

Since that matchup, JJ Redick's Lakers have only improved, winning 17 of their last 20 games. The game-changing addition of Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks has also elevated LA into serious title contention as they took an eight-game winning streak into Saturday.

With Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday out of the lineup, the Celtics were forced to rely on other players to step up, and one of the standout performers was rookie Baylor Scheierman.