The Lakers and Celtics square off in the first ABC Saturday Primetime of the season (8:30 p.m. ET). Here are five key stats to know about the matchup.
• The Celtics enter Saturday with two of the top 12 scorers in the league in Jaylen Brown (27.1 ppg, 8th) and Jayson Tatum (26.5 ppg, 12th). They will face a Lakers team with the league’s top defensive rating (105.0) and allows the 4th-lowest effective field goal percentage (51.1%).
• A key part of the Lakers’ defensive success is limiting 3-point attempts and 3-point percentage. The Lakers have held teams to 34.3% shooting on 32.2 3-point attempts per game, ranking 3rd and 6th in the league, respectively.
• Over the past five games, LeBron James is averaging 30.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists while shooting 53.7% from the field and 52.8% from beyond the arc. Through the first 20 games of the season, LeBron is averaging career highs in both 3-point attempts (6.6 per game) and 3-point percentage (41.7%).
• The Celtics average 19.6 points off turnovers per game (5th in NBA), partially due to their 9.1 steals per game (T-3rd in NBA) and 17.3 deflections (T-4th in NBA). Jayson Tatum (5.3 ppg) and Jaylen Brown (4.5 ppg) rank 2nd and 6th, respectively, in player points off turnovers.
• After opening the season with 10 straight road wins, the Lakers have lost back-to-back road games in Philadelphia and Detroit before heading to Boston for Saturday’s game. The Lakers have not lost three straight road games since dropping five in a row in March 2019.