LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will reignite the franchise's decades-long rivalry with the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
The XMas slate, per Shams:
- Bucks @ Knicks
- 76ers @ Heat
- Celtics @ Lakers
- Mavericks @ Suns
- Warriors @ Nuggets
Earlier this evening, The Athletic reported that the Lakers will visit the defending NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, to open up the 2023-24 season.
Last year, both matchups between the Lakers and Celtics went to overtime and came down to the wire. On Dec. 13, the Celtics triumphed, 122-118, despite 37 points and 12 rebounds from Anthony Davis and 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists from LeBron James.
A few weeks later, the clubs clashed in a 125-121 Celtics overtime win, forever memorialized by LeBron's reaction to a last-second no-call, then Patrick Beverley bringing out the camera to show referee Eric Lewis the error.
In other words, the 2023-24 NBA regular season cannot come soon enough.
For those interested, here's the Lakers' preseason schedule:
- Oct. 7 at Warriors — Chase Center, 5:15 p.m.
- Oct. 9 at Brooklyn Nets — T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, 6:00 p.m.
- Oct. 13 vs. Warriors — Crypto.com Arena, 7:00 p.m.
- Oct. 15 vs. Bucks — Crypto.com Arena, 5:00 p.m.
- Oct. 19 vs. Suns — Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs, 7:00 p.ms
The Lakers and Celtics both have 16 NBA championships. FanDuel has the Nuggets listed at +480 to repeat, slightly behind the Celtics (+470). The Lakers have the seventh-best odds, at +1500.