LOS ANGELES (AP) – Shaquille O’Neal had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and six of

his teammates scored in double figures Sunday night as

the Los Angeles Lakers returned to their winning ways by beating the Boston Celtics 105-82.

The Lakers (21-7) snapped a two-game losing streak in winning for only the third time in seven games following a 10-game winning streak.

Derek Fisher scored 15 points; Devean George added 14; Gary Payton had 13, and Kobe Bryant scored 11 while shooting 5-of-18 for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Celtics 55-35.

Slava Medvedenko had 10 points and nine rebounds and Horace Grant had a season-high 10 points and seven rebounds for Los Angeles.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 24 points. Vin Baker had 13 points and Chris Mihm and Marcus Banks added 11 each for the Celtics, who had their most one-sided loss of the season.

O’Neal scored the first seven points of the third quarter to give Los Angeles a 64-49 lead. The Celtics drew within eight points before the Lakers outscored them 9-2 to finish the period, making it 79-64.

Fisher then scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to give the Lakers a 20-point lead, and another 3-pointer by Fisher with six minutes left made it 93-69.

Each team had 12 turnovers in a sloppy first half which ended with the Lakers leading 57-49 thanks to a 6-1 run at the end of the second period.

The Lakers scored the game’s first seven points before seven points by Baker triggered a 10-2 run that gave the Celtics their only lead.

The Lakers outscored Boston 19-5 for a 28-15 lead, but the Celtics responded with a 13-2 spurt to move within two points early in the second quarter.

Notes: The Celtics finished with 23 turnovers and the Lakers 21. … With a series lead of 93-75, the Celtics are the only franchise with a winning record against the Lakers. … The Lakers don’t play again until Friday night, when they travel to Seattle. After playing only 11 games in December, they play 15 in both January and February. … The Celtics play Monday night at Golden State and Wednesday at home against New Orleans, giving them 17 games in December. They play 16 games in January and 12 in February. … Malone took a seat on the bench late in the first quarter and received an ovation from the fans. He stayed home Christmas night when the Lakers played Houston. … O’Neal drew a technical foul late in the second quarter for throwing an elbow at Boston’s Michael Stewart. … O’Neal surpassed the 21,000-point mark in his career. … By winning, the Lakers avoided their first three-game losing streak since last December.

AP-ES-12-29-03 0010EST