Probable Starters
Celtics: Dennis Schröder, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Grant Williams, Al Horford
Lakers: Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, Avery Bradley, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis
Injuries
Celtics: Jaylen Brown (out), Robert Williams (questionable), Dennis Schröder (questionable)
Lakers: LeBron James (questionable), Austin Reaves (out), Trevor Ariza (out), Kendrick Nunn (out)
—
Go win the damn game.
The Lakers are sitting at 8-8 and showed real progress in offensive approach and defensive flexibility in Wednesday’s loss to the Bucks. I’d really like to see them build on that in this game, but do so in a way that brings home the victory.
Forget X’s and O’s, lineups and rotations, or general strategy for a moment. Losing sucks. It’s draining. It’s something that, even if inevitable for every team, you do not want to do a lot of and you definitely don’t want to get used to the feeling. I’m not saying the Lakers are there, but the injuries combined with the losing has made this season a slog and has sucked the joy out of the what could have been a good month.
Nothing is going to make those first 4 weeks of the season go away. You can’t get those games back — not the ones they gave away or the ones they simply didn’t show enough competitive spirit in. But, tonight’s a rivalry game vs. the Celtics, on national TV, can build on a good showing, and hopefully start to build some momentum.
We don’t yet know if LeBron will play and, even if he does, how he’ll look. We don’t know if some of the Celtics guys (including Dennis Schröder) will suit up either. I’d love for everyone to be as healthy as they can be for this one, but, honestly, if that doesn’t happen my investment in this single game doesn’t change. The Lakers are in Boston, playing the Celtics. Everything else can take a backseat to that one simple idea.
Go win the damn game.