Paul Pierce scored 32 points in his latest stellar performance against the Los Angeles Lakers as the visiting Boston Celtics notched an impressive 109-96 victory over the defending champions on Sunday.

Pierce made 11 of 18 shots as Boston (36-11) knocked off Los Angeles in the first meeting between the teams since the Lakers defeated the Celtics in last season’s NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant scored 41 points for the Lakers (33-15).

Pierce was the 2008 NBA Finals MVP when Boston won the championship and played in a similar fashion in a contest that the Celtics dominated over the final 5 1/2 minutes.

Ray Allen scored 21 points, Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Rajon Rondo had 16 assists as Boston shot 60.3 percent from the field and hit 9 of 17 3-point attempts.

Lamar Odom scored 15 points for Los Angeles.

Boston led 91-83 after Garnett’s basket with 6:42 left before Bryant scored four straight points to cut the lead in half.

The Celtics regained control on Garnett’s 18-footer, a three-point play by Glen Davis, and an alley-oop basket by Garnett on a lob by Rondo to take an 11-point lead with 4:02 to play.

Allen scored five straight points to give Boston a 14-point lead with just over 2 1/2 minutes remaining and end any suspense.