Take it from LeBron James: The Los Angeles Lakers played their best game of the season against their biggest rival, thrashing the Boston Celtics 117-102 at Staples Center on Tuesday.

Whether the Lakers (13-12) parlay the victory into momentum remains to be seen — they face a road back-to-back against the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder, and have failed to capitalize on previous seemingly season-igniting moments.

For one evening, at least, the Lakers found their swagger and looked like contenders. Let's spotlight five reasons why.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4eyMtHUETPlGtzzbISEXc8?si=393318ab96e947e9

Los Angeles Lakers looked like contenders vs. Boston Celtics

1) LeBron was back in form

After eight missed games and the Isaiah Stewart incident, LeBron was belatedly finding his rhythm. He dropped 39 (and balls) on the Indiana Pacers in a vintage takeover, followed by two 30+ point outings.

However, an unwelcome two days in isolation depleted him — especially on defense — for Friday's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Four days later, the 19-year veteran looked like his age-defying self. James scored 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting, consistently got out in transition and masterfully orchestrated the action.

“LeBron is fantastic on both sides of the ball,” Frank Vogel said. “He sets the tone for us with his voice. He’s our quarterback on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he’s barking out commands, getting guys in the right spots and knowing our schemes down to a T better than anyone on the floor. He always has a great, positive impact toward those.”

2) Russell Westbrook shined, again

The Lakers pulled away with a third-quarter surge — a recent trend — led by Westbrook's 15 points in the period. It was Westbrook at his best: contagious energy, relentless attacking, pushing pace, and voluminous playmaking.

“That’s who I am. What I bring to the table,” he said about firing up the crowd. “That’s what my teammates need from me. I want to be able to share my engine, my spirit with the rest of the fans, the rest of the world and have fun while doing it. This game is something I don’t take for granted.”

Russ finished with 24 points (9-of-16 FG) and 11 assists against four giveaways. He has been stellar over the past eight games.

“I think at the beginning of the year, Russ was a little bit passive,” Anthony Davis surmised. “And we were just trying to tell him, ‘Be himself. Don’t try to be anybody else. The more you’re aggressive, the more you open up for everyone else.' And as of late, the last seven or 10 games, he’s been very, very aggressive.

“You saw tonight, he went on a stretch in the third quarter where he just went downhill and finished and that’s what you gotta do,” Davis added. “Before every game, I tell him, ‘Be yourself.’ That’s why we brought him here — to be Russell Westbrook and not anybody else but that.”

3) The Big 3 grooved

Ahh … so that's what it should look like.

LeBron led the way early with 16 first-quarter points. Russ dominated the third. Davis shook off a sluggish first half to post 17 points and 16 rebounds.

“Teammates stayed in my ear,” AD recalled. “LeBron told me to ‘scrap it,' everybody was saying, ‘It’s one half, second half, let’s go.' I tried to be a little more aggressive. The good thing about it, we got a team that can pick up the slack when somebody’s slacking.”

Westbrook wasn't interested in whether the game reflected the ideal version of the Lakers' Big 3, but he'll take it.

“The game will always tell you what to do,” he said. “We have a unique team … and we have guys that can take over a game at any point. … I don’t know the blueprint. All I know is that we won. So if that’s the blueprint, then hell yeah, winning is the blueprint.”

4) The Lakers went extremely hard in the paint

Los Angeles entered Tuesday ninth in paint points per game (47.5). On Tuesday, they had 66, including 24 in the third quarter. The Big 3 combined for as many (42) as Boston.

The Lakers want to be an inside-out team and use paint attacks to create high-quality looks. Against the Celtics, they showed just how devastating they can be when doing so.

“We played AD at the 5 the whole night. … If you have guys like Russ, LeBron and AD, you know the open lane to attack (is there) and, hopefully, we can have that type of night in terms of attacking the paint, and hopefully we can add 3-point shooting to it as well,” Vogel told my Lakers Multiverse co-host, Cooper Halpern. “We didn't shoot the ball that well tonight, but still had a strong performance.”

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6L7QT8tDJ3RF060SkgvLE7?si=4e4f15b1c6424dcd

The Lakers shot only 8-of-27 from deep, but they still converted 51.6% overall from the field. The jury's still out on if they can become an above-average perimeter and free-throw shooting bunch, but they can certainly be a dominant interior group.

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5) Two-way execution

The Lakers' defense continues to improve. As Vogel noted, their defensive rating of 104 would be the second-best mark in the NBA, and they did it against a team with the second-best offensive rating in hoops over the past 10 games, and who dropped 130 on the Lakers a few weeks ago — possibly LA's worst defensive effort of the season.

“Our group has a great way of talking things out and having group intelligence,” Vogel said. “We’re very proud of our defensive performance tonight. … It was big growth from the other night against the Clippers. We limited the 3-point line and our guys played with great competitive spirit.”

After Jayson Tatum opened with a blistering 14 points, the Lakers were in lockdown mode.

“After those first seven minutes, we just started to be more alert on our game plan the coaching staff have put together,” LeBron said, paying Vogel a rare compliment. “We knew our game plan was versus every individual player on the court. And we executed that to a closer win tonight.”

One concern about the Lakers' roster construction has been the lack of two-way players, which has, in turn, resulted in a dearth of effective two-way lineups. 36-year old Trevor Ariza can't be relied upon to fix everything.

Against Boston, the Lakers found a way to thrive on both ends, simultaneously.

“I just like the way we competed tonight from both sides of the floor,” LeBron said. “High intensity. We had a lot of movement. Guys were attacking the rim. Very efficient. I think defensively, besides the first 14 avalanche on Tatum’s part, we locked in from that point on. So, any time we’re able to get stops like that, we’re a very, very good team because we’re one of the best teams in transition. We got a lot of guys that attack the paint. We have a lot of guys that can make plays for others. Tonight was close to 48 minutes, it was one of the best games of the season as far as the way we just played.”

Boston shot 43.9% from the field and 10-of-33 from downtown.

The Lakers windmilled, mean-mugged, posterized, and rocked babies on the Celtics. It was their first comfortable (and fun!) win against quality competition — in this case, the team the fan base relishes beating more than anyone else.

“I’m proud of this team today,” James said. “I’m proud of how we just came with our mindset, had our hardhats on from the beginning. And played a heck of a game from start to finish.”