The long history between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics continues in a holiday showdown.
Both teams are chasing the goal of becoming the first franchise to achieve 18 NBA championships. Recent events suggest that the NBA's third 2023 Christmas Day matchup will be exciting, as the teams met twice last season and went to overtime in both contests.
Boston won each game by four points. The game has multiple storylines and plenty of star power. The Lakers are the favorites to win the NBA title and the season's inaugural champion. Can LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers defeat Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Celtics in their first meeting of the current campaign?
In earlier action, the New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Denver Nuggets topped the Golden State Warriors.
live65 updates
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LeBron James had a season-best 40 points in OKC on Saturday. 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting with 2:40 left in the 4th Q, followed by his worst today.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 26, 2023
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The Celtics weren't going to double the post under any circumstances. Content to give up 2s with this lead was 14 late in the 4th.
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) December 26, 2023
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Boston is now in the hunt for Austin Reaves. Mercilessly.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 26, 2023
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Anthony Davis had a season-high 38 points on 15-of-25 shooting.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 26, 2023
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A lot of energy will come from the Jury Holiday with the second unit today. After Rui hits his closeout, he runs in circles defensively to get a big block on Rui from behind, assist and rebound. Later on offense, he gets into the paint and kicks well to the corners.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) December 26, 2023
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#Celtics They have played a strong defensive half, attacking the rim and hitting cuts. 11 over with 6:11 to go. Tatum and Brown combined for 10 for 28 FG. Porzingis and White for 40 points on 16 of 26 FG.
— Gary Washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) December 26, 2023
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All 5 Celtic starters have now scored 16 points or more. Porzingis is the only one with 20+.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) December 26, 2023
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Do you think we'll be talking about the Pritchard-Prince shooting on Christmas Day 2023 in 20 years?
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 25, 2023
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LeBron ruled clean but Tatum was fouled by Prince on the way up. Tatum actually lost the ball on the Prince strip
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) December 25, 2023
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Lakers have been chewing Quetta to pieces in PnR since he came in. He has a lot of work to do in his coverages.
He excels in 1-on-1 coverage. Should Boston change actions outright by asking him to waive or hedge and recover?
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 25, 2023
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That's a tough ask of Reaves, who goes from transitioning to Porzingis and then having to shut down Holiday almost cross-court, where he can't do much. pic.twitter.com/ZALLmD2Gx3
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) December 25, 2023
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