After Thursday’s dramatic win over the Raptors, the Lakers will travel straight to Boston to take on the Celtics on Friday. This is the first meeting between the rivals this season.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics
When: 4 p.m. PT, Dec. 5
Where: TD Garden
Watch: Prime Video, Spectrum Sportsnet
The Lakers will face the Celtics for the first time since Jayson Tatum unfortunately tore his Achilles. This means this match will look completely different from how it did in the past with this current
version of the Celtics. Still, that doesn’t mean this one will be a walk in the park. In fact, it’ll be far from it.
Competing on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back, on your rival’s home floor without your best player, it feels as if this game sounds like a scheduled loss already. But the purple and gold have proven they can rise to the occasion when a challenge presents itself. And there’s no challenge better than beating a rival on the road.
In order to do that, the Lakers need to focus on stopping the Celtics’ backcourt. Their guard rotation featuring Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and Anfernee Simons is one of the finest in the league and is the reason why they have the association’s fourth-best offense. Brown, specifically, is averaging 29 points a game. They still attempt a ton of 3-pointers a game (42.8 per game) and commit the fewest turnovers in the league (11.7 per game).
To the Celtics’ credit, their ability to stay competitive despite missing a big piece in Tatum is admirable. That’s a testament to the coaching of Joe Mazzulla, who should be a measuring stick for Redick in this one. Both their teams will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back with Boston taking care of the Washington Wizards pretty easily on Thursday. Which coach will come up with the better game plan to get their guys prepared?
It’s not going to be easy but winning in a tough environment involving high-stakes games is something they’ve done multiple times this season. It’s going to take another team-wide effort led by LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Let’s see if the Lakers can win their first matchup against their rivals this season on Friday.
Notes and Updates
- Since both teams played on Thursday, the injury report for this one won’t be out until a few hours before tip-off.
- Although for the Lakers, expect Luka Doncic (personal reasons) to remain out. Marcus Smart (lower back injury management) was out for Thursday’s game but could make his return this road trip.
- As for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum (Achilles surgery recovery) is out.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
