On Saturday, the Lakers will embark on a four-game road trip, where they will face the Boston Celtics, their ultimate opponents. Unless one of these teams makes it to the NBA Finals, this will be their second and last meeting of the season.
Launch window and television programography
Game Details: Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers
When: March 8, 5:30 PM PST
Location: TD Garden
See: ABC
Luka Dončić will be returning to TD Garden, the venue where he was defeated in the NBA Finals last year, on Saturday night during prime time. The Slovenian star returns this time as a Laker, marking his first appearance in this legendary rivalry.
The Lakers are riding high after winning eight in a row, and they’ll be facing a Celtics squad that is likewise riding high. Boston, in contrast to the purple and gold, has maintained a top-five offense and defense throughout the season, and they are presently riding a three-game winning run. Their January loss at the hands of Los Angeles at Crypto.com Arena guarantees that they will exact retribution on the psyche.
The Celtics’ strategy against Dončić’, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves is what I will be keeping an eye on. Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and, of course, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are some of their competent defenders. The Lakers’ 3-point shooting won’t be an issue in this game because they’re facing the club with the season-high in 3-point attempts per game (48.1).
The defense of the Lakers will also be crucial. You won’t see Rui Hachimura here because he’s still nursing an ailment to his left patellar tendinopathy. But Los Angeles has played well without him recently; perhaps they will continue this trend on Saturday. I’m interested to watch how they manage to keep Kristaps PorziņĎis under control this time around, because he had a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds in their previous encounter.
The showdown against the Bruins will serve as the ultimate litmus test for the revamped and surging Los Angeles squad. Since they are the current champions, the C’s are, without a doubt, the league’s top squad. It would be interesting to observe the Lakers’ matchup with the Celtics in their home court.
Is it possible that Dončić will plan a vengeance game? Will LeBron continue his career-long streak of appearances at TD Garden? Is Austin Reaves going to repeat his spectacular performance from last year at The Garden? When it comes to the Lakers, who else will stand out? On Saturday, we will receive our responses.
See if the Lakers can extend their winning streak to nine games and, more importantly, if they can sweep the season series against the Celtics.
