The Celtics will host the Lakers for the second and final meeting of the regular season, though the storied rivalry will carry less steam this time around.
With the Lakers’ two stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis missing the game with injury, the Celtics will have a decided advantage before even the opening tip.
As of late, the Celtics and Lakers are traveling on diverging roads. The Celtics occupy the top seed in the Eastern Conference and sit five games clear of the competition, most recently both halves of a back-to-back to respond to an embarrassment at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers. Even with such a concerning loss, the Celtics boast an absurd 22-2 home record, on pace to win over 60 games for the first time since 2009.
The Lakers, on the other, much less-cool hand, are searching for answers everywhere they turn. Each day brings a new rumor about Head Coach Darvin Ham’s job security spurred by cryptic tweets and comments from up and down the roster. The perennially over-discussed Lakers have found that discussion less than enjoyable recently, currently tied with the Utah Jazz for the final Western Conference play-in spot.
The week hasn’t been without its bright spots—with Los Angeles recently winning one of the best games of the year in double overtime over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors—but rather without any consistency. Their electric win was followed up by two straight lethargic losses to the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks, two less-than-scary opponents that simply out-hustled and out-worked the exhausted Lakers.
Despite the two’s history, the Celtics stand as colossal favorites with both the betting and analytics community. This is mainly due to both James and Davis missing the contest, both ruled out on around 2:30 pm EST.
On the flip side, the Celtics should be marshalling the full complement of their forces tonight, save for Luke Kornet who is listed as questionable with a hamstring injury. The last time the two teams met was on Christmas Day, resulting in a 126-115 Celtics victory despite poor overall shooting numbers and a 40-point performance from Davis.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Delano Banton
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Lamar Stevens
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias…
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