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The Lakers have won four straight games in Boston.
The Los Angeles Lakers will get have reinforcements in the back court Thursday night as they face the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in a nationally televised game on TNT. Guard Steve Blake, who has missed 13 games with rib injury (specifically a costochaondral fracture), will play against Boston.
Head coach Mike Brown, back from his one-game suspension for bumping referee Zach Zarba in Utah, said before the game that Blake would have no restrictions on his minutes, per Mike Trudell of NBA.com. Brown said of Blake, "He hasn't had a lot of practice time so he'll have to play his way through it."
Blake is averaging 7.3 points and 2.8 assists in 24.3 minutes per game this season, while shooting 35.4% from three-point range. Here are Thursday's probable starting lineups:
Point Guard: Derek Fisher
Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant
Small Forward: Metta World Peace
Power Forward: Pau Gasol
Center: Andrew Bynum
Point Guard: Rajon Rondo
Shooting Guard: Ray Allen
Small Forward: Paul Pierce
Power Forward: Kevin Garnett
Center: Jermaine O`Neal
Thursday night's 5 p.m. PST game will be televised by TNT. For more Lakers news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.
The Los Angeles Lakers continue their road trip Thursday night, heading to TD Garden to face their longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics. Here are the relevant details of Thursday's nationally televised NBA game.
Records: Lakers (14-11), Celtics (14-10)
Location: TD Garden in Boston
Time: 5 p.m. PST
TV: TNT, with Marv Albert on play-by-play joined by analysts Mike Fratello and Steve Kerr.
Radio: ESPN Radio, with Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay on the call.
Offensive Efficiency: Lakers, 103.9 points per 100 possessions (14th in NBA); Celtics, 102.3 (19th)
Defensive Efficiency: Celtics, 97.5 (second); Lakers, 101.5 (11th)
Home vs. Road: The Lakers are just 3-9 on the road this season, including 1-2 on their current six-game road trip. The Celtics are 10-6 at home on the season, after going 33-8 in Boston last season.
Streaking: The Lakers have lost two straight games, while the Celtics have won five straight. The Lakers have won three straight regular season games in Boston and have won five of their last six regular season contests at TD Garden.
For more Lakers news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.
The Los Angeles Lakers continue their road trip against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night, in a battle of two teams struggling to regain the form that saw them battle one another in the 2008 and 2010 NBA Finals. The Lakers (14-11) are coming off a tough road loss Monday night in Philadelphia, while the Celtics (14-10) have turned things around of late, winning their last five games.
The Lakers are 3-9 on the road this season.
This week featured a pair of milestones for the shooting guards in Thursday's contest. Kobe Bryant passed Shaquille O'Neal on Monday for fifth place on the NBA all-time scoring list, and now has 28,601 career points. On Tuesday against Charlotte, Paul Pierce scored 15 points and in the third quarter passed Larry Bird for second place on the Celtics' all-time scoring list. Pierce in his career has scored 21,797 points.
The Lakers have split the last two regular season meetings against the Celtics, with each team winning on the road in both years. The Lakers have won their last three regular season games in Boston, and have won five of their last six regular season games at TD Garden.
Steve Blake, who has missed 13 straight games with a rib injury, is expected to be a game-time decision Thursday night. Rookie Andrew Goudelock has stepped into the rotation of late, averaging 10.3 points per game over the last seven contests with a true shooting percentage of 62.5% during that span.
Thursday night's 5 p.m. PST game will be televised by TNT. For more Lakers news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.
Lakers Vs. Celtics Final Score: Pau Gasol Secures Overtime Win, 88-87
Pau Gasol found out earlier Thursday that he wasn't named an All-Star reserve, and came out Thursday night and played perhaps his finest game of the season. Gasol scored 25 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked a Ray Allen layup attempt at the buzzer, securing a 88-87 win for the Los Angeles Lakers over the Boston Celtics in overtime Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston.
The game was at times ugly but was nonetheless exciting as the two teams stayed close for most of their 53 minutes on the court. Kobe Bryant scored 27 points for the Lakers, and Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who had 15 offensive rebounds on the night.
The Lakers used a 10-2 run to close out the third quarter to take a three-point lead. A back-and-forth fourth quarter culminated with the Celtics having a two-point lead in the final minute, but Gasol tied the game with a putback layup with 9.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Paul Pierce nearly had a triple-double for the Celtics with 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, and had a 19-foot jumper that would have won the game in the final seconds of overtime. His shot rimmed out and went to Allen, who had his layup attempt blocked by Gasol. Allen ended with 22 points for Boston.
The Lakers improved to 2-2 on their six-game road trip and won their fourth consecutive regular season game in Boston. The Lakers head to New York to battle the Knicks on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
For more Lakers news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.
Feb 09 7:53p by Eric Stephen