Lakers and Celtics injury concerns ahead of TD Garden clash

With 18 and 17 championship wins a-piece, the Boston Celtics and visiting Los Angeles Lakers are the two most decorated teams in NBA history.

A sold-out TD Garden on Saturday night will be anxious to see the Celtics put a stop to the Lakers and their winning streak of eight games after the latest win against the New York Knicks 113-109 in overtime on Thursday.

“We haven’t had many of those games because frankly, we’ve had the lead a lot lately,” Los Angeles coach JJ Redick said. “I think it’s a good reminder for our group going forward that we can win games like this where we’re not at our best offensively, where we get off to a slow start defensively but we have enough toughness and grit to get these games.”

The Lakers have won 18 of their last 21 games with new acquisition Luka Doncic averaging 23.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.1 assists in 10 games since the Lakers acquired him in a trade with Dallas.

Their current winning streak has moved the Lakers into second place in the Western Conference.

Celtics await

Boston have won three in a row and like Saturday’s opponents, hold a second place in the Eastern conference with star player Jayson Tatum on media duty ahead of Saturday’s match-up.

“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,” Boston star Jayson Tatum said. ‘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."

The game will feature four players who are averaging more than 23.0 points per game: Tatum (26.9), Doncic (26.8), LeBron James (25.1) and Brown (23.1).

“As much as we probably talk about LeBron, we probably don’t talk about him enough,” Tatum said. “Being 40 in his 22nd season, playing at an All-NBA level, is incredible. It’s a testament to the work that he puts into this game, to his body to stay in the best shape to be able to compete and perform at the highest level for over two decades now.

Injury concerns

The Celtics have been blighted by injuries in recent games and have been forced to use a makeshift lineup recently. Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Jrue Holiday (finger) have each missed the team’s last four games and are questionable for Saturday. The Celtics were also without Jaylen Brown (knee), Al Horford (toe) and Sam Hauser (ankle) during Thursday’s victory over Philadelphia. Hauser is questionable to face the Lakers.

For the Lakers, Maxi Kleber (foot) and Rui Hachimura (knee) are out, Jaxson Hayes (knee) is questionable with both LeBron James (foot) and Luka Doncic (knee) listed as probable on the latest injury update.

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