Boston Celtics (22-6) at Los Angeles Lakers (16-14) Game #29 12/26/23

The Celtics come to the end of their 4 game road trip with a game against their oldest and biggest rival, the Los Angeles Lakers. This is one of the games that every Celtics fan and likely every Celtics player circles on their calendar when the schedule comes out. This is the first of two meetings between these two teams. They will meet again in Boston on February 1.

Since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, before the 1960-61 season, they have met 207 times and the Celtics lead with 111 wins to 96 for the Lakers. The Celtics are 9-3 against the Lakers in the Finals. Boston won the first 8 titles before the Lakers won 3 of the last 4 meetings with the Celtics last title coming against the Lakers in 2008.

The Celtics lead the series overall all time 165-133, including the games the Lakers played in Minneapolis before moving to LA. They trail 55-77 in games played on the road. The Celtics won the series last season 2-0, winning both games by exactly 4 points and with both games going into overtime. Both of these teams have 17 Championships and are in a race to see who gets to Banner 18 first.

The Celtics are 1st in the East, with the Bucks closing in on them, just half a game behind them. They are 2 games ahead of the 3rd place Philadelphia 76ers and 4 games ahead of the 4th place Orlando Magic. The Celtics are 8-6 on the road. and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 3-2 against Western Conference opponents. They have won their last 2 games.

The Lakers are 9th in the West. They are 7 games out of first place. They are 1.5 games behind 6th place Dallas for a guaranteed playoff spot. They are 1 game ahead of 11th place Phoenix, and dropping out of play-in position. They are 10-3 at home and 5-5 in their last 10 games. They are 3-5 against Eastern conference opponents. They had lost 4 games before winning their last game.

The Celtics are playing in the final game of a 4 game road trip. They lost their first game to the Warriors before coming back and blowing out the Kings and Clippers. They will return home to play Toronto and Detroit in back to back games. The Lakers are playing in the first game at home after a 3 game road trip. They will play Charlotte at home on 12/28 before facing Minnesota and New Orleans on the road.

Kristaps Porzingis missed Saturday’s game against the Clippers with a sprained ankle. He is listed as questionable for this game. Luke Kornet has missed the last 6 games with an adductor injury. He is listed as probable for this game. Svi Mykhailiuk is questionable with a heel contusion. Lamar Stevens is questionable with an illness. All are expected to be a game time decision.

For the Lakers, Gabe Vincent is out with a knee injury but they have several players listed as questionable. LeBron is questionable with a left ankle injury. Cam Reddish is questionable with a groin injury. Jarred Vanderbilt is probable with a heel injury. Rui Hachimura is probable with a wrist injury. Anthony Davis is questionable with an ankle injury. I expect all of them to play today, especially LeBron and Davis.