Lakers vs. Celtics Preview and Game Thread: Luka Dončić’s return to the Garden

The red-hot Lakers will face their biggest test yet against the Celtics on the first game of their road trip.

The Lakers will face their ultimate rivals, the Boston Celtics as they begin a four-game road trip on Saturday. This will be the second and final time these two teams face this season, barring an NBA Finals appearance.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics

When: 5:30 PST, Mar 8

Where: TD Garden

Watch: ABC

On prime time Saturday night, Luka Dončić’ makes his return back to TD Garden where he lost in NBA Finals last year. This time though, the Slovenian sensation comes back as a Laker and it’ll be the first time he takes part in this storied rivalry.

The Lakers, winners of their last eight games, will visit a Celtics team also in a tremendous groove. Boston is currently on a three-game winning streak and, contrary to the purple and gold, has consistently been a top-five offense and defense this season. Given how L.A. ran them out of Crypto.com Arena in January, there’s no doubt they’ll have revenge on the mind.

What I’m going to be looking out for is how the Celtics game plan against Dončić’, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. They certainly have competent defenders to throw at them, specifically Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and, of course, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. This is a game where the Lakers’ 3-point shooting can’t betray them because they’re going up against the team that averages the most 3-point attempts (48.1) per game this season.

This will also boil down to the Lakers’ defense. Rui Hachimura, who continues to recover from a left patellar tendinopathy injury, will be greatly missed in this one. But L.A. has made up for his absence over the last couple of games, so maybe they’ll do the same on Saturday. I’ll be curious to see how they contain Kristaps Porziņģis this time around since it was he who had team-high 22 points and seven rebounds in their last meeting.

But more than anything, this matchup against Boston is a measuring stick for this new look and rolling Los Angeles team. After all, the C’s are the defending champions and are still arguably the best team in the league. It’ll be nice to see how the Lakers square up against them in Celtics territory.

Will Dončić’put together some kind of a revenge game? Will LeBron show up at TD Garden like he has for most of his career? Will Austin Reaves add a second chapter to his incredible performance at The Garden this time last year? Who will be the other Lakers that stand out? We’ll get our answers on Saturday.

Let’s see if the Lakers can make it nine in a row and more importantly, sweep the season series against the Celtics.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, Luka Dončić (right knee contusion), LeBron James (left foot injury management) are noted as probable.
• Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion) is questionable while Rui Hachimira (left patellar tendinopathy) and Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery) are out.
• As for the Celtics, Kristaps Porzingis (illness), Jrue Holiday (right hand mallet finger) and Sam Hauser (right ankle sprain) are questionable.
• The Lakers’ eight-game winning streak is their longest since 2020.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.