Ah, the sweet taste of vengeance for Anthony Davis. The Los Angeles Lakers – Boston Celtics rivalry has been relatively dormant over the past decade.

Since the two storied franchises met in the 2010 NBA Finals, both organizations have spent the past decade restructuring — at different speeds — and gradually building contenders around respective duos of stars: LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the Lakers, and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for Boston.

“Without the Boston fans, without the Laker faithful, it’s not the same,” LeBron James told reporters on Friday about Lakers-Celtics. “It won’t feel the same on Saturday. It’s gonna feel great to play another game and play against a very good team, but it won’t have the rivalry feel. The fans are so much a part of that rivalry.”

Well, maybe. But even, regrettably, without the fan-fueled energy and tension at the TD Garden on Saturday night, the Lakers and Celtics competed like it was the Finals — and like the rivalry meant something.

In the end, the Lakers eked out a gritty 96-95 victory, as an ice-cold Kemba Walker (1-of-12 from the field) and Daniel Theis missed makeable looks in the final seconds to seal the nail-biter for L.A.

The win halted a two-game losing streak for the Lakers and moved the defending champions to 15-6 on the season and 4-2 on their seven-game road trip.

Los Angeles seemed to have no interest in dropping three games in a row. After back-to-back losses to the Philadelphia 76ers (a physical, last-second duel) and the Detroit Pistons (a generally uninspired effort) on Wednesday and Thursday, Kyle Kuzma — among others — acknowledged that the Lakers failed to uphold their “mantra” by dropping consecutive contests. (Their first two road Ls of the season.)

“We for damn sure wasn't losing three in a row,” Davis told ESPN's Rachel Nichols after the Lakers won in Boston.

It's possible that the Lakers' effort on Saturday was inspired by the present state of the team, and — perhaps to a lesser degree — NBA history. Yet, it’s more likely that this Lakers bunch — and Davis in particular — was thinking about the recent past on Saturday, rather than Kobe and Pierce, Bird and Magic, or Russell and West.

The last time the Lakers faced the Celtics, they won, 114-112 at Staples Center, on Feb. 23, 2020. However, L.A.'s previous visit to New England didn’t go as well. On Jan. 20, 2020, Boston beat down L.A., 139-107. It was arguably the worst performance of the year for the champs.

“We got a little revenge with this team,” Davis told Nichols. “They came in last year and beat us by (roughly) 30, last time we were in this building.”

Davis especially struggled in that affair, scoring just nine points for the Lakers (-24). LeBron James (15 points) had one of his lowest scoring outputs of the 2019-20 campaign, too.

Of course, the Lakers would end up tying the Celtics with championship no. 17 in the bubble. Regardless, last season's dud on the parquet floor has evidently remained on AD's mind.

“One of our most memorable games from last year,” Davis added.

Davis — who was cleared to play minutes before the game after sitting out on Thursday for the Lakers with a quad contusion — had 27 points (11-of-25 FG) and 14 rebounds in one of his best outings of the season. After the game, he acknowledged his mindset was “going back to the old AD” in terms of his aggression.

“A gritty win playing against a team that beat us by 30 last year in this building,” Davis re-iterated in his post-game presser for the Lakers. “Losing two in a row is something that we don’t like we were able to get this one.”

James has been a Laker for two seasons and change, but he has often stated his appreciation for the lore of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry.

“It’s pretty cool, just knowing the history,” he said after the Detroit slip-up. “You know Lakers-Celtics throughout the course of this league and what it means to this league, the history of this league. And just seeing some of the biggest games, some of the best rivalries, some of the best players ever to play this game, to be a part of this rivalry was a pretty cool thing being a part of the history.”

After Saturday's win, James sounded like a long-tenured Laker with a heightened focus for any matchup with Boston.

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“When you see Boston, all you see is green. It makes no difference the person,” James told reporters in his post-game Zoom session when asked about seeing his pal Tristan Thompson in Celtics garb for the first time.

James dropped 21 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists (plus five turnovers) in the one-possession win for the Lakers, shooting 7-of-17 from the field and 4-of-11 from three. Notably, his first triple of the evening moved him past his former teammate J.R. Smith for 13th place on the league’s all-time three-point shooting list (next up: Joe Johnson, 47 threes ahead).

Of all the motivators for the Lakers on Saturday, one simple factor stood above the rest, per Davis.

“For us, in total, I think we’re just happy to be back in the win column.”

Tatum (30 points, nine rebounds) and Brown (28 points) shined but received little help from Walker (four points) or anybody else in the scoring department. The Celtics fell to 10-8 on the season.

Next up, the Lakers will have Georgia on their minds, as they finish up their road trip against the upstart Atlanta Hawks (10-9) on Monday night.