There's a lot more buzz around Celtics-Lakers now that Luka Doncic is part of the rivalry
Boston will be the center of the basketball world on Saturday night when the Celtics welcome the new-look Los Angeles Lakers to TD Garden. There is a significant buzz around the longtime rivals for the first time in a long time, with Saturday's matchup a potential NBA Finals preview.
We're a long ways away from finding out if the Celtics and the Lakers will be the last two teams standing. But the hype is back in the rivalry, which was not the case when the two teams mixed it up six weeks ago in Los Angeles. While the Celtics are the defending champs and the team to beat every night, Los Angeles was a middling Western Conference team at that point. Even LeBron James couldn't save the rivalry from its current malaise on his own.
But everything changed when the Lakers were gifted Luka Doncic by the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the trade deadline, a move that has morphed Los Angeles into a potential title contender. To the surprise of no one, adding an All-World talent like Doncic has completely rejuvenated the Lakers, who are 12-2 since the annual MVP candidate arrived in La-La Land.
Los Angeles is 8-2 with Doncic on the court, with the do-everything (aside from play defense) guard averaging 23.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 8.1 assists in a Lakers uniform. He's coming off a 32-point, 12-assist, 7-rebound night -- where he also added four steals after playing some defense -- in the team's comeback overtime win over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
James' game has elevated with Doncic in the mix, averaging 27.5 points off 53 percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds, and 6.4 assists since the blockbuster trade. He put up 31 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists against the Knicks on Thursday.
Now the Lakers are coming to Boston, and Doncic will get his first taste of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry in his first visit to TD Garden since the Celtics trounced his Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals last summer. Doncic joining the Lakers has made this the game of the year and must-see TV around the country on Saturday night.
Time will tell if Saturday night is a preview for what's to come this summer. But there is certainly a lot more hype surrounding the clash of the NBA's greatest rivals, with both teams sitting as the No. 2 seed in their respective conferences.
Jayson Tatum downplays Celtics-Lakers rivalry
Saturday night will mark the 302nd time the Celtics and the Lakers will meet in the regular season, with Boston owning a 166-135 edge. The Celtics lead the all-time postseason matchups, 43-31, having claimed nine of the 12 meetings in the NBA Finals.
But the Celtics and the Lakers haven't squared off in the NBA Finals since 2010, so vitriol and hatred from the rivalry has gone a bit dormant. At least in the mind of Jayson Tatum.
"I mean, I obviously understand the history between the Lakers and Celtics. I would say from my time in the league, I wouldn't look at the Lakers as rivals," Tatum said Thursday night after the Celtics blew out the shorthanded 76ers in Boston. "We only play them twice. The teams that we play over and over again in the playoffs -- Philly would be one of them, and the other teams as well.
"You respect and understand the history and all the guys that wore the Lakers and Celtics uniform and what it means for the game of basketball and the NBA," Tatum continued. "It's an honor to be a part of that, for sure, so I'm certain everybody's looking forward to that matchup, as they do every single year."
For his career, Tatum owns an 8-7 record against the Lakers. The only season he's been part of a Boston sweep of Los Angeles came in the 2022-23 season.
That won't happen this year, as the Lakers beat the Celtics, 117-96, in late January. That was the second leg of a back-to-back for Boston, and the team's third game in four nights on an extended road trip. That's no excuse for the Celtics losing to that version of the Lakers though, one of the many times the defending champs played down to their opponent.
There will be no playing down to these new Lakers on Saturday night. The Celtics have won nine of their last 11 contests, and while the team is dealing with some lingering injuries and illnesses, Boston will absolutely be up for Saturday night's clash with the Lakers. So will Los Angeles, coming off a measuring-stick win over the Knicks on Thursday.
While Tatum may not see the Lakers as a rival at the moment, his opinion may change after this weekend.