LeBron James on Tristan Thompson and leadership

The Lakers started off their season-high, seven-game road trip by winning three of four before Anthony Davis was sidelined with an injury.He returned just in time to help his team avoid a third straight defeat.

Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds in his return to the lineup and Los Angeles hung on to beat the Boston Celtics 96-95 on Saturday night when Daniel Theis missed a follow shot at the buzzer.LeBron James finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals. Montrezl Harrell added 16 points for the Lakers, who lost in Detroit on Thursday when Davis rested a bruised right quadriceps.

"For me, personally, it's getting back in attack mode," Davis said.

Being aggressive. Crashing the offensive glass. Being in the paint. All those types of things. Everything that I did tonight.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said the energy was completely different with Davis back on the floor.

He's built up. He's getting into that mode right now. He's starting to pick it up. The injury set him back a little bit. ... But we want him to be assertive. And when he's assertive on both sides of the ball, we're very difficult to beat.