The old rivals meet once again. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics met once before, and the matchup ended with a win for the purple and gold. Though the Lakers had their dynamic duo then, the team has been able to get some wins without them as well. But are there any chances of that happening against the Celtics?

Right now, the Lakers stand fifth in the West with a 34-21 record, while Boston is also fifth in the East at 29-26. Who will one-up the other and improve their W tally?

Los Angeles Lakers injury updates and lineup prediction

The Lakers just came off a victory against the Charlotte Hornets and will look to continue their winning ways against Boston. Showing that they can take over elite teams in the absence of LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be a big relief. They would want to top their last 96-95 win against the Celtics this time.

For the first time this season, the Lakers will have fans to cheer for them on the stands. This might be an added motivation to play up to par against the Celtics. Unfortunately, the player expected to lead them, Andre Drummond, could only add four points to the scoreboard in the last game. There has been a consistency problem with him.

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It was Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso who stepped up on the occasion and took the Lakers to victory. Unfortunately, the Lakers could be in deep trouble for the next game. They have a long injury list that includes Kuzma, Drummond, Markieff Morris, Dennis Schroder, Wesley Matthews, and Marc Gasol, who are all probable for the game tomorrow. Along with Bron and AD, who are still sidelined.

This leaves the predicted lineup as Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and Ben McLemore.

Boston Celtics injury update and lineup prediction

The Boston Celtics have won four games in a row, with their latest victim being the Portland Trail Blazers. With just 8.5 seconds left for the buzzer to go off, Tatum hit a dagger three that helped them escape with a 116-115 win.

With Jayson Tatum at the best of his game, averaging 25.9 points and 7.1 rebounds, the Celtics were able to snap out of the bad slump they had landed themselves in. Tatum’s clutch performances and putting up more than 30+ points every night has been vital for the Celtics’ success.

However, he hasn’t been able to carry the team as well as he was able to last season. This is where Jaylen Brown has stepped up and is playing one of the best seasons of his career. This is a team that has a healthy roster, with only Evan Fournier out because of COVID-9 protocols.

So, the predicted lineup would be Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams III, and Marcus Smart.

Game Prediction

Although the Lakers winning would make this game very entertaining, it seems highly unlikely. Not only are extremely short-handed, but their pattern has shown that they have only been able to bag alternate wins. That too mostly against average teams. Therefore, the Celtics seem like the team who will be taking this win home.