ANTHONY Davis puts on a show in his first game against his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans. AFP

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Los Angeles forward Anthony Davis shrugged off the boos that greeted his return to New Orleans on Wednesday, scoring 41 points to power the Lakers to a 114-110 NBA victory over the Pelicans.

“Man, it feels so good,” said Davis, who finished his night by grabbing an attempted inbounds pass from New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday with 4.2 seconds left and then sinking two free throws to close out the come-from-behind win.

Los Angeles trailed by as many as 16 early in the third quarter but opened the fourth on a 9-0 scoring run as they trimmed the deficit to one point.

Kyle Kuzma’s three-pointer knotted the score at 91-91, but the Pelicans pushed their lead back to four points before Davis returned from treatment on his right elbow and stuffed a dunk off a pass from LeBron James.

The Lakers took the lead for good when Kuzma drained a three-pointer to make it 111-109 with 1:07 to play.

“They made shot after shot, big shots,” said Davis, who was booed by Pelicans fans in the opening introductions and every time he touched the ball thereafter.

“We showed our resiliency tonight and we were able to get the win.”

Davis, who had been booed by Pelicans fans last year when he tried to engineer a trade from the club — a move that finally happened in the off-season, said he was prepared for the reaction.

“I just tried to play through it and calm my nerves and play basketball,” he said.

He had plenty of support from his Lakers teammates and that included James.

“We understood,” said James, who scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and handed out 11 assists. “Any time you go back to a place where you made a mark… you want to come back and play well and you want to win.”

In doing so, the Lakers won their ninth straight and improved their league-leading record to 16-2.

Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving didn’t make it back to Boston for a scheduled rematch with his former team.

He cast a long shadow at TD Garden, but it was Boston guard Kemba Walker who starred in the Celtics’ 121-110 triumph.

The game would have been Irving’s first in Boston since he departed the Celtics as a free agent in the off-season.

But he missed a seventh straight contest with a shoulder injury — an absence greeted with skepticism by many Boston fans, who chanted “Where is Kyrie?” and “Kyrie Sucks!” as the contest got underway.

Around the arena, fans carried signs comparing Irving unfavorably with Walker — who was back in action five days after he was stretchered off with a neck injury after a scary collision in a loss at Denver.

Walker, who took over Irving’s job in Boston, scored a season-high 39 points.

That included 13 in the third quarter, when Boston rallied from an eight-point deficit with 10:05 to play in the period.

“I was making some shots,” Walker said. “My teammates did a great job of getting me open. It was a great night.”

Jaylen Brown scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Jayson Tatum added 16 points for the Celtics, who remained unbeaten in seven home games this season.