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Los Angeles Lakers (16-5) at Boston Celtics (13 -9)
Friday, December 5, 2025
7:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #23, Home Game #12
TV:  Prime Video
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, ESPNRadio, Sirius XM
TD Garden


Probable Celtics Starters
Point Guard: Derrick White ---------------- Shooting Guard:Payton Pritchard


Center: Neemias Queta


Small Forward: Jaylen Brown ------------------ Power Forward: Jordan Walsh


Celtics Reserves
Anfernee Simons
Hugo Gonzalez
Xavier Tillman
Josh Minott
Sam Hauser
Luka Garza
Baylon Scheierman
Chris Boucher

2-Way Players
Ron Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
Amari Williams

Injuries/Out
Jayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Jaylen Brown (illness) questionable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Probable Lakers Starters
Point Guard:  Gabe Vincent ------------------ Shooting Guard: Austin Reeves


Center:  DeAndre Ayton


Small Forward: LeBron James-------------------- Power Forward:Rui Hachimura


Lakers Reserves
Jaxon Hayes
Bronny James
Maxi Kleber
Dalton Knecht
Jake LaRavia
Adou Thiero
Jarred Vanderbilt
Gabe Vincent

2-Way Players
Chris Manon
Nick Smith, Jr
Drew Timme

Injuries/Out
Luka Doncic (personal) questionable
Marcus Smart (back) questionable

Head Coach
JJ Redick

Game Notes
The Celtics host the Lakers for the first of 2 meetings this season.  They will meet for a 2nd, and final, time in Los Angeles on February 22.   These two teams tied the series last season with each team winning on their home court.  The Celtics are 167-135 overall, all time, against the Lakers.  They are 85-52 in games played in Boston. 

Both teams are playing on the second night of back to back games and both teams had to travel after Thursday's game.  The Celtics played in Washington and beat the Wizards by 45 while the Lakers played in Toronto and beat the Raptors by 3.  The Celtics are 3-1 on the second night of back to back games while the Lakers are 2-2 in the second game.  The Celtics are playing in the 5th game in 7 days while the Lakers are playing in the 3rd game in 5 days. 

The Lakers basically kept their core together for this season.  They did make a couple of changes that may end up being big for them.  First they brought in DeAndre Ayton, which may solve their weak spot at center.  They also signed Marcus Smart, which should help their defense that was weak last season.  They signed Jake LaRavia as a free agent also.  They lost Dorian Finney-Smith to free agency and cut Jordan Goodwin, Trey Jemison III and Shake Milton. 

The Celtics are 5th in the East, tied with 6th place Orlando, 7th place Philadelphia, 8th place Cleveland and 9th place Atlanta.  They are 1 game behind 4th place Miami and 3.5 games ahead of 10th place Milwaukee and 11th place Chicago. The Celtics are 7-4 at home.  They are 3-3 against Western Conference opponents and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 3 games.

The Lakers are 2nd in the West, 4.5 games behind first place Oklahoma City.  They are 1 game ahead of 3rd place Houston, 4th place San Antonio, and 5th place Denver.  They are 3 games ahead of 6th place Minnesota.  They are 9-2 on the road and 4-1 against Eastern Conference opponents.  They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win in their last game. 

After this game against the Lakers at home. The Celtics then play at Toronto and at Milwaukee and then at home against the Pistons. The last 2 games were added to the schedule after the Celtics failed to qualify for the NBA Cup.  After the Cup games, they host Miami, play at Toronto, host Indiana and then head out on a 5 game road trip through Indiana, Portland, Utah, Sacramento and the LA Clippers.

This is the 2nd of a 3 game road trip for the Lakers.  They play at Philadelphia to finish the road trip.  Then it is on to Las Vegas for the knock out rounds for the NBA Cup.  They will play San Antonio first and then will play either OKC or Phoenix in the knock out rounds.  After the Cup games, they return home to play Sacramento, Detroit, and Memphis twice. 

Jayson Tatum remains out as he rehabs from the torn Achilles from the playoffs.  Jaylen Brown missed Thursday's game with an illness and as of now is questionable for this game.  Luka Doncic missed Thursday's game awaiting the birth of his child.  I'm guessing he may not play in this one and Gabe Vincent will start once again.  But, it's not official so he may take a red eye back to play against the Celtics.  Marcus Smart is questionable with a back injury. 

Key Matchups
vs
Payton Pritchard vs Austin Reaves
Reaves is averaging 28.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game.  He is shooting 51.9% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc.  If Luka is out, Reaves is their best player.  The Celtics need to pay extra attention to defending him. 

vs
Neemias Queta vs DeAndre Ayton
Ayton is averaging 15.8 points, and 8.6 rebounds.  He is shooting 71.2% from the field and with no threes.  The Celtics need to try to keep him out of the paint and off the boards.   If Luka is available, the key matcup would be Derrick White vs Luka Doncic instead of Queta vs Ayton. 

Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs LeBron James
LeBron is averaging 15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game.  He is shooting 46% from the field and 31.8% from beyond the arc. LeBron scored just 8 points against the Raptors, ending his 18 year, 1293 game streak of scoring in double figures.  To his credit he had the ball with seconds to go and he passed to Hachimura for the game winner.   He has slowed down somewhat but is still dangerous. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - I can't say it enough that defense is the most important key to winning.  The Celtics are 16th in the league with a defensive rating of 115.0. The Lakers are 19th with a defensive rating of 118.3.  The Celtics have played good defense off and on in recent games but they still are not consistent on that end.   They must stay committed to playing tough, lock down defense, especially against a Lakers team with some very good offensive weapons.  The Celtics must especially defend in the paint as the Lakers are 9th in the league with 52.8 points in the paint per game.

Rebound -  Rebounding takes effort and energy and the Celtics will need both to out-rebound the Lakers.  The Celtics need to crash the boards and keep the Lakers from getting second chance points and fast breaks.  The Celtics  are averaging 44.2 rebounds per game (17th) while the Lakers are averaging 41.0 rebounds per game (27th).   The Celtics must put out extra energy and effort to beat the Lakers to rebounds. 

Move the Ball Carefully - The Celtics need to move the ball in order to find the best shot on each possession. When the ball sticks and players try to do too much, the Celtics struggle. They are at their best when they pass the ball and keep it moving.  The Celtics had 35 assists in their 45 point win over the Wizards.  9-1 this season when they have 25 or more assists.  But they have to make careful passes and not get sloppy because the 76ers average 20.1 points off turnovers.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense.  They have to aggressively crash the boards.  They have to be the team that wants it more.  In most of their losses, they have allowed their opponents to play harder and be more aggressive.  They absolutely can't let the Lakers play harder than them if they want to have a chance to win.

X-Factors
Home Game - The Celtics are at home and should get a boost from the crowd who will hopefully be loud and enthusiastic.  The Lakers are on the second game of a 3 game road trip and may have some travel fatigue and also other distractions that come from playing on the road.  The Lakers have a 9-2 record on the road, so they play well in the road.  The Celtics should take advantage of playing on their home court and in front of their fans. 

Who's Out - Jaylen Brown missed Thursday's game and at this time, he is questionable for this game.  For the Lakers Luka Doncic (35.3 points per game) is back home for the birth of his child. He is also questionable, as is Marcus Smart.  If any or all of these players are out, it will make a big difference for their team.  All 3 are listed as a game time decision.   

Fatigue - Both teams are playing on the second night of back to back games and both teams had to travel after Thursday's game.  The Celtics are playing 5 games in 7 nights.  The Lakers are playiing 3 games in 5 days.  The Celtics had an easy game on Thursday with Pritchard playing 32 minutes and no one else over 30.  For the Lakers, 4 of their 5 starters played over 30 minutes in a game that went down to the wire.  Reaves played almost 41 minutes.  Ayton played almost 32 minutes and LeBron played almost 36 minutes.  I'm not sure how many minutes, if any, LeBron will play in this one.  Fatigue may come into play down the stretch.

Officiating -  The officiating can always be an x-factor.  Every crew calls the game differently and the Celtics have to adapt to how the game is being called and not allow bad calls and no calls to take away their focus.   If you doubt that officiating is an x-factor, just think back to the last Finals between these two teams.  In game 7, the Celtics were up 6 going into the 4th quarter.  The refs had called the game evenly up until then.  But in the 4th quarter, the referees took over and it cost the Celtics that game.  The Lakers took 21 free throws in the 4th quarter alone while the Celtics took 6.  The Lakers took more free throws in the 4th quarter than they did in the first 3 quarters combined. (Yes, I am still a little bitter over that.)  Hopefully the refs call it fair in this game and let both teams play.