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Doncic trade adds another layer to intense Celtics-Lakers rivalry originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There’s no better rivalry in the NBA than the Boston Celtics versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
But unfortunately for basketball fans, this rivalry has lost a bit of its luster in recent seasons. That could change — and in a major way — Saturday night at TD Garden.
There are a couple of reasons why this matchup has the potential to revive the passionate rivalry.
The first? It’s been a while since both teams were legit championship contenders at the same time.
The Celtics are the defending champions and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 45-18 record. They are one of two teams that rank top-five in both offensive and defensive rating.
The Lakers are also playing great basketball right now. They had a 18-14 record in seventh place in the Western Conference standings back on Jan. 1. A month later, they were fifth in the West at 28-19. Fast forward to Saturday and the Lakers are all the way up to second place with a 40-21 record. Los Angeles has won eight games in a row and nine of its last 11. This team is red hot.
This weekend’s game will be the first Celtics-Lakers clash in which both teams are a top-two seed in the conference since LeBron James joined the Purple and Gold in 2018. The last time these teams played each other as top-two seeds in their respective conferences was Feb. 5, 2009, when the Lakers led the West and the Celtics were No. 2 in the East.
Another huge reason why this game could boost the rivalry is it will be Luka Doncic’s first matchup against the Celtics since he walked off the Garden court after losing Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
Doncic put up good stats in the Finals, but his defense was atrocious and Jaylen Brown did a great job defending him, which helped the Celtics star earn series MVP. Doncic also cost the Mavericks in Game 3 when he fouled out late in a close matchup and constantly yelled at the referees.
Now Doncic is with the Lakers, and it still feels pretty weird to type out that sentence even though it’s been a little…
[ad_2]Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/celtics-lakers-matchup-boston-could-075412978.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2025-03-08 07:54:00
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