The NBA’s greatest rivalry is on display tonight as the Boston Celtics(33-18) face the Los Angeles Lakers(42-13).
Lakers fan will be anti-green in support of their team, as this is another game of bragging rights between the inter-conference rivals.
Kobe Bryant is unlikely to play tonight, so the rest of the team will continue the collective effort. The Lakers are 4-0 without the superstar.
Tuesday, Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors, 104-94. Shannon posted career highs with 27 points and 10 rebounds, starting in place of Bryant.
But the Mamba-less squad will face their biggest challenge yet, going against a team within title contention. If their defensive trend follows suit, the Lakers should be in good shape.
This looks to be yet another battle between the NBA champions of the last two years(Boston winning in 2008 & L.A. winning in 2009, respectively.) The Lakers are 1-0 this season against the Celtics. The last game in Boston on Jan. 31st was down to the wire; with Kobe hitting the game winner with 7.3 seconds left to win it 90-89.
The Lakers will be looking to pressure Rajon Rondo into outscoring them; as they will be locking down the “Big 3″. But Paul Pierce, being an L.A. native, is averaging 27.1 points, and 5.7 rebounds in his 10 games against the Lakers. So Artest will put his defensive reputation up again to stop the Celtics’ the 3rd all-time scorer.
With Kobe Bryant not playing, here are your projected starters and injury updates:
PROJECTED STARTERS:
Lakers:
(C) A. Bynum
(PF) P. Gasol
(SF) R. Artest
(SG) S. Brown
(PG) D. Fisher
LAL Injuries:
K. Bryant(ankle) is day-to-day.
A. Bynum(hip) is day-to-day.
L. Walton(back) is out indefinitely.
Celtics:
(C) K. Perkins
(PF) K. Garnett
(SF) P. Pierce
(SG) R. Allen
(PG) R. Rondo
BOS Injuries:
P. Pierce(foot) is day-to-day.
NOTES:
The Lakers are 83-97 against the Celtics since moving to Los Angeles. But have won 3 consecutive games against them since least season’s series sweep.Kobe is still looking for his 1,000th career game. Which will make him the youngest to reach the milestone; currently held by Kevin Garnett. Boston just finished a 5-player deal that sends Eddie House and other lesser-known Celtics to the New York Knicks for proven scoring guard Nate Robinson and an undisclosed player.
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