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Boston Celtics (36-19) at Los Angeles Lakers (34-21)
Sunday, February 22, 2026
6:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock, NBCSB, Telemundo
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, ESPN LA 710, Sirius XM
Regular Season Game #56 Road Game #29
Crypto.com Arena
Probable Celtics Starters
Point Guard: Derrick White ---------------- Shooting Guard: Baylor Scheierman 
Center: Neemias Queta 
Small Forward: Jaylen Brown ------------------ Power Forward: Sam Hauser
Celtics ReservesPayton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Nikola Vucevic
Jordan Walsh
Delano Banton (10-day)
John Tonje (10-day)
2-Way PlayersRon Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
Injuries/OutJayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Probable Lakers Starters
Point Guard: Luka Doncic------------------ Shooting Guard: Austin Reeves
Center: DeAndre Ayton 
Small Forward: LeBron James-------------------- Power Forward:Marcus Smart
Lakers Reserves Kobe Bufkin
Rui Hachimura
Jaxson Hayes
Bronny James
Luke Kennard
Maxi Kleber
Dalton Knecht
Jake LaRavia
Adou Thiero
Jarred Vanderbilt
2-Way Players Chris Manon
Nick Smith, Jr
Drew Timme
Injuries/Out None listed
Head Coach JJ Redick
Game Notes The Celtics visit the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2nd and final meeting this season. The Celtics win the first meeting in Boston 125-105 on December 5. The Celtics were at full strength for that game while the Lakers were without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart. These two teams tied the series last season with each team winning on their home court. The Celtics are 168-135 overall, all time, against the Lakers. They are 55-78 in games played at the Lakers.
The Lakers basically kept their core together for this season. They did make a couple of changes however. They brought in DeAndre Ayton to shore up their center spot. They also signed Marcus Smart to help their defense. They signed Jake LaRavia as a free agent also. At the trade deadline, the Lakers traded Gabe Vincent to Atlanta for Luke Kennard to give them a sharpshooter off the bench.
The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 5.5 games behind 1st place Detroit. They are 1 game ahead of 3rd place Cleveland, 1.5 games ahead of 4th place New York, 3 games ahead of 5th place Toronto, 6 games ahead of 6th place Philadelphia and 6.5 games ahead of 7th place Orlando. The Celtics are 12-6 against Western Conference opponents. They are 18-10 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 2 games.
The Lakers are 5th in the West, 8 games behind first place OKC, 5 games behind 2nd place San Antonio, 1 game behind 3rd place Denver, half a game behind 4th place Houston and tied with 6th place Minnesota. They are 2.5 game ahead of 7th place Phoenix. They are 11-7 against Eastern Conference opponents and 16-10 at home. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 2 games.
The Celtics are playing in the 2nd game of a 4 game Western road trip. They beat Golden State 121-110 on Thursday and will play Phoenix, and Denver back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday to close out the trip. They will then return home for games against Brooklyn and Philadelphia before a game at Milwaukee. Then they are back home for games against Charlotte and Dallas before a tough 3 game road trip through Cleveland, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. Then they host Washington, Phoenix and Golden State.
The Lakers are playing in the 7th game of an 8 game home stand. They are 4-2 so far on the home stand and will close it out with a game against Orlando. They will then play at Phoenix and Golden State before returning home to play Sacramento and New Orleans. Then it's one game at Denver before a 5 game home stand where they will host Indiana, New York, Minnesota, Chicago and Denver.
Both teams are healthy other than Jayson Tatum for the Celtics, who remains out as he rehabs from the torn Achilles. The Lakers have no one on their injury report. I'm assuming that the Celtics will once again start White, Scheierman, Brown, Hauser and Queta. I'm thinking that the Lakers will stick with the starters they used on Friday in their win over the Clippers, which is Doncic, Reaves, LeBron, Smart and Jordan. Although they only used this starting lineup once due to injuries, they consider it their strongest starting lineup.
Key Matchups vs
Derrick White vs Luka Doncic
Doncic is averaging 33.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game while shooting 47.3% from the fiield He is coming off a game where he finished with 38 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 block. He missed the December game against the Celtics. The Celtics have to slow Doncic down and guard him both on the perimeter and in the paint along with anticipating his passes.
vs
Baylor Scheierman vs Austin Reaves
Reaves is averaging 25.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. He is shooting 51.1% from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc. In the December meeting between these two teams, Reeves finished with 36 points, 3 rebound, and 8 assists while shooting 50% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. He is coming off a game where he finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Honorable MentionJaylen Brown vs LeBron James
LeBron is averaging 21.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 7.2 assists while shooting 49.9% from the field and 30.6% from beyond the arc. In his last game on Friday, he finished with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 steal. He didn't play in the first game between these two teams. He may be old, but he is still dangerous and a very good passer.
Keys to the Game Defense - I can't say it enough that defense is the most important key to winning. The Celtics are 8th in the league with a defensive rating of 112.6. The Lakers are 24th with a defensive rating of 116.5. The Celtics have played good defense for the most part in recent games but they still are not consistent on that end for 48 minutes each game 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 51.9 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 45.6 rebounds per game (8th) while the Lakers are averaging 40.9 rebounds per game (24th). 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 31 assists in their win over the Warriors. The Celtics are 28-4 when they have at least 25 assists. But they have to make careful passes and not get sloppy because the Lakers average 17.8 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 plays harder and 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
On the Road - The Celtics are playing in the second game of a 4 game road trip. They need to fight through the distractions of playing on the road and on the other coast in a different time zone and keep their focus on playing the right way. They need to put all those distractions of playing in a strange arena and in front of hostile fans and staying in hotels and away from family aside and put all their focus on playing the game.
Pride - "Beat LA" is one of the most iconic chants in sports. This is a storied rivalry and no matter the circumstances, the Celtics always want to beat the Lakers and vice versa. The Celtics have to focus on the game and on playing aggressive basketball. It's a matter of pride and the Celtics need to get the job done and "Beat LA". On the other hand, LeBron always has a chip on his shoulder against the Celtics and LeBron and his teammates are going to give extra effort to beat one of their biggest rivals.
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.
Topic: Celtics (36-19) at Lakers (34-21) Game #56 2/22/26 (Read 260 times)