Byron Scott plans to shake up Lakers lineup after Celtics roll

Celtics center Tyler Zeller tries to block a shot by Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin in the first half.

Dec. 5, 2014 9:40 PM PT

Reporting from Boston — Maybe Kobe Bryant should have had breakfast with Tyler Zeller. Or Jared Sullinger.

The young Boston Celtics big men took turns gouging the Lakers in Friday’s game. Rajon Rondo had 16 assists, the Lakers had 14 as a team, and guess who won at TD Garden?

The Celtics ran away from the Lakers, 113-96, the latest and certainly not greatest serving of the 66-year rivalry.

Lakers Coach Byron Scott said there would be lineup changes Sunday against New Orleans, but this game will be remembered mainly as the time Kobe Bryant and Rondo ate together.

Bryant called it a “basketball geek” meeting, and Rondo called it “two [jerks] having breakfast together,” though there was also an unspecified recruiting pitch of sorts Thursday from Bryant.

“You don’t need to use your imagination,” said a person familiar with Bryant’s desire to have Rondo join the Lakers next season.

Rondo is a free agent next July and could easily find himself on a new team. The Lakers will have enough money to sign one player to a maximum-salary deal or two players to fairly solid contracts starting at about $11 million.

Rondo, 28, makes $12.9 million. He was averaging 8.3 points, 10.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds before Friday.

Bryant called him “extremely intelligent” and a great creator on the court but chose sarcasm when asked whether he ever thought about Rondo as a future Laker.

“No, I haven’t thought about having any future teammates before,” he said.

With both teams experiencing another down season, it’s possible Bryant and Rondo had to cheer each other up over breakfast.

“Like a mutual intervention?” Bryant said with a smile.

Bryant, 36, is under contract only more season after this, making Friday one of his last trips to TD Garden.

There were many games to remember here in a 19-year-career but the one that stood out to Bryant was losing Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals by a near-record 39 points.

“It will always sit with me,” he said.

On the plus side for the Lakers, it became a rallying cry for title drives in 2009 and the 2010 rematch against Boston.

“It launched us, really propelled us to win back-to-back championships because we understood the aggressiveness that we needed to play with,” Bryant said.

There was none of that Friday.

Robert Sacre took 10 shots and missed nine. Carlos Boozer took six, missed five. Wesley Johnson missed all five of his attempts.

“We’re 20 games into the season, which is a fourth of the season. It’s time to make a few changes,” Scott said, declining to name specifics. “One, two, I don’t know how many I’m going to make right now.”

Johnson is a likely target because of his up-and-down play. Nick Young could move into the starting lineup, though his absence would seriously hurt the second unit’s scoring punch.

Scott could also insert Wayne Ellington in Johnson’s place and shift Bryant to small forward. Bryant had 22 points on nine-for-21 shooting Friday.

Boston won’t ponder any changes after Zeller had 24 points on 10-for-11 shooting and added 14 rebounds. Sullinger had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Rondo had 12 points and eight rebounds in addition to his assists.

Zeller beating up the Lakers? If nothing else, he could steal part of Young’s nickname. Swaggy Z, he was on Friday.

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Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan