Here is what you need to know before the Lakers take on their rivals, the Boston Celtics.
1) The Lakers have been scorching from 3-point range lately. After draining a season-high 12 3-pointers against Washington Wednesday, L.A. is averaging 9.0 triples on 44.4 percent shooting in its last five games. In the team’s prior 14 contests, it was making just 5.3 3-pointers on a 30.3 percent mark from long range.
2) Aside from their loss to the Wizards, the Lakers are perfect against the Eastern Conference. L.A. is 4-1 against teams from the East, against whom the Lakers are averaging 110.2 points on 48.3 percent shooting. The Celtics, meanwhile, are on the opposite end of that trend, as they are winless in seven games against teams from the Western Conference and scoring 98.3 points on a 41.4 percent clip.
3) The Lakers and Celtics share a long history, having met 280 times with Boston winning 154 games. The Celtics also lead the all-time series in Boston (78-48) and in the NBA Finals (9-3).
4) However, the Lakers won the most recent championship meeting between the two teams, outlasting Boston in a classic, seven-game series for the 2010 title. The only players remaining on either roster from that series are Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo.
5) The Lakers have also enjoyed more recent success against their rivals. L.A. has won three straight against Boston, and seven of its last 10. The Lakers have lost only two season series to the Celtics since the 1999-2000 season, most recently in 2007-2008 when Boston also beat L.A. in the NBA Finals.
6) Lakers assistant coach Paul Pressey will be facing off against his son, Phil Pressey, who is one of Boston’s backup point guards. The younger Pressey has averaged 2.8 points and 3.1 assists in his first two seasons as a Celtic.
7) After playing in just 30 games last season primarily due to a torn ACL, Rondo is once again among the best passers in the NBA. The eight-year veteran leads the NBA in assists (10.9), assist opportunities (21.3) and points created by assist (25.7) per game. In 15 games this year, Rondo has eight performances of double-digit assists, including against Atlanta on Tuesday when he dished out a league-high 19 assists.
8) Jared Sullinger has been a multifaceted producer for Boston, leading the team in baskets (6.8), rebounds (8.4), blocks (0.8) and player efficiency rating* (20.5). Sullinger is also skilled at cleaning up for his teammates, as he is third in the NBA in second-chance points (4.3) behind only Anthony Davis (4.8) and Zach Randolph (4.5).
9) After shooting the league’s second-worst percentage from the field last year (43.5), Boston now ranks 11th (46.0). The Celtics have also cleaned up other areas of their offense, improving from 23rd in assist (21.0) to second (25.7), and from 29th in paint points (37.8) to fourth (45.6).
10) Despite offensive improvement, defense is still a major cause for concern for the Celtics. They are allowing the second-most baskets (40.4), third-most points (107.3) and fifth-highest field goal percentage (46.6) in the league. Boston’s defense has been especially porous in the paint, where it is allowing a league-high 49.6 points per game.
*Player efficiency rating is a calculation of per-minute production in which the league average is set at 15.