The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics at Staples Center on Thursday, 121-113, in a game they never led and was mostly a blowout — save for a garbage-time surge that nearly resulted in an epically bad beat.

Yet, despite the defeat to their longtime rival — who were led by Jaylen Brown's 40 points on 17-of-20(!) shooting — the Lakers, their fans, and #LakersTwitter had a few notable reasons to hit the pillow seeing a half-full glass on the bedside table.

1) Anthony Davis' return is imminent

“Good news,” a smiling Frank Vogel said pregame when asked about Davis, who was reevaluated upon his return to L.A.

“He has been cleared for full on-court activity, full practice, anything we want to do with him to begin his real ramp-up in return to play,” the Lakers head coach revealed. “All the court work he’s been doing to this point has been to get him to be fully cleared to participate in full practice.”

Considering how depleted Vogel's squad is in the frontcourt — they faced Boston without Andre Drummond (toe) and Markieff Morris (ankle), while Marc Gasol dislocated his finger and is questionable for Saturday — the Davis news is especially welcome.

“He's tired of being a patient and ready to be a player again,” Vogel said. “So, he's eager to get to work in real practice the next few days — live work — and even more eager to get back on the floor, and obviously that's going to give our whole group a big lift.”

According to Vogel, the prospect of Davis appearing in the baseball back-to-back with the Utah Jazz on Saturday and Monday is not “out of the question.” The Lakers will then head to Texas for a similar B2B against the Dallas Mavericks, beginning next Thursday.

Whenever AD suits up, his return will come about two months after he reaggravated his calf/Achilles on Valentine's Day.

“Obviously, it’s been quite some time since he initially got hurt, but there was a mindset to go through this type of process, to really strengthen the muscle and the area around it to this point,” Vogel said. “This isn’t the result of a setback or anything like that, it’s just part of a longer-term plan to make sure the muscle is fully recovered and strong.”

Vogel expects Davis' minutes to be initially restricted to short bursts.

“Whenever it is that he returns, it's not going to be a full return to playing 30-something minutes a night,” Vogel said. “Especially with the nature of practice and how shorthanded we are, he's going to have to use some games to try to get himself back in shape. So the first two games he's back will likely be short-minute performances.”

Either way, this was the most encouraging development of the day within the Lakers universe.

2) The Lakers are tough as balls

Beyond the employment of Davis and LeBron James, L.A.'s championship-caliber DNA is defined by intangibles: they're dogged on both ends and collectively committed to accountability and high standards of performance.

On Thursday, their toughness — physically and mentally — manifested once again, even in the lopsided L.

It began with Dennis Schröder, who has been dealing with a painful infection in the ball of his foot. Roughly 90 minutes before tip-off, Vogel deemed it “unlikely” that his point guard would play.

Not so. Schröder — who has inspired the team throughout the challenging season with competitiveness and girt — gutted out 28 minutes (eight points, eight assists) before heading to the locker room in the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, in the first half, Gasol dove for a loose ball — another underrated theme of this Lakers season — and dislocated his left pinkie finger in the most nauseating possible fashion. Even Vogel called it “kinda gross.”

Somehow, the Big Spaniard returned after having it popped back into place. He sank three more triples on his way to a season-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 4-of-6 from downtown.

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He was later diagnosed with a volar plate fracture.

“I don't need my left hand,” he said, going full Mamba.

Both players have individual agendas: Gasol is trying to retain a spot in the rotation, while Schröder is seeking a lucrative contract. Regardless, their toughness isn't overlooked nor underappreciated in the locker room.

(Kentavious Caldwell-Pope again dealt with back spasms.)

Once the game was seemingly out of hand, the Lakers displayed just how deep their mettle runs. Out of nowhere, L.A.'s end-of-bench reserves and Talen Horton-Tucker embarked on a 24-2 run in garbage time, cutting Boston's lead to five points and forcing Brad Stevens to reinsert his starters for the closing minutes.

The scorching stretch was led by THT (19 points, six rebounds, seven assists) — who continues to improve as a playmaker and grow in confidence and smoothness by the game — and Ben McLemore (17 points, 15 in 4Q) in his second-best performance since coming aboard.

(FWIW, Horton-Tucker became the first player since Dwyane Wade in 2019 to drop at least 19 points, six boards, seven dimes, and three steals off the bench in a game, per Stathead Basketball.)

“Those guys came out and competed for their tails off,” Vogel said about the bench. “I wanted them to be able to get the ‘W,' but that was awesome how they played.”

https://twitter.com/AnthonyIrwinLA/status/1382913368936239105

3) Fans are back! Normalcy!

After some initial pushback to the safety guidelines — Staples Center welcomed fans back for the first time since March 10, 2020. It wasn't exactly The Forum in 1986, but the Lakers appreciated the buzz from the 1,915 folks in the stands.

“We’re all glad to have something that’s a little bit normal,” said Kyle “Sisqo” Kuzma, who became the 10th player in Lakers history to score 4,000-plus points in his first 261 career games.

“I know it's not full capacity and where we want to be, but it was great to have our fans back and cheering us on,” Vogel said. “It just gave us a different level of energy and juice, and hopefully it continues to grow.”

Yes, the Lakers returned home only to lose to the darn Celtics. All things considered, though, in the words of an iconic L.A. fan and native: it was a good day.