“Just another Wednesday. Just another game” is what Jayson Tatum said in the aftermath of the Boston Celtics’ recent win against the Golden State Warriors. The 5x NBA All-Star was either underestimating his victory by much or being humble in his approach. After all, the Celtics-Warriors matchup was no mere Wednesday, with Tatum and Co. securing a win by a 125-85 score, aka a 40-point margin! For the Warriors, who were holding a 21-20 record earlier, the crushing loss was certainly nothing short of a humiliation. That feeling is something that LeBron James is looking to now avoid.

The Los Angeles Lakers earlier defeated the Washington Wizards. Next, they will go up against the Boston Celtics at the Crypto.com Arena. Though the Purple & Gold are currently six seeds higher than the Dubs, there isn’t much of a difference in their win percentages, as the LA franchise currently holds a 23-18 win record.

What happened to the Warriors could very well happen to them. Therefore, when asked after the Wizards game what he wants to see from his team in the next matchup, LeBron replied, “Same (thing) what we wanna see every night when we go against any team. We just got to try to play our game. Be physical defensively, share the ball offensively, communicate.”

At a time when Los Angeles needs to accumulate as many wins to secure a spot in the playoffs, taking the defending champions as serious rivals is one thing to bear in mind.

“I don’t think it’s even about Boston” said the 40-year-old. “Boston know who they are. We’re still trying to, you know, we’re learning and getting better with what we want to do. So, you know, obviously we will have a game plan set in place for such a great team. But, they’re in another place than we are, so.”

Out of the last 10 games that the Lakers have played against the Celtics, the men in Purple & Gold have won only 4 of the matchups. The last time that both teams competed in the regular season was back in February 2024, with the Lakers taking home the win by a 114-105 score. Surprisingly, they won the game without having LeBron James and Anthony Davis play, as Austin Reaves led the offensive effort with 32 points. Therefore, the Lakers may certainly have better odds with both the veteran scorers set to be available.

At the same time, if the Celtics’ 40-point margin win is an indication, it is that they will not choose to go easy on any of their other rivals. Speaking out in the aftermath of the humiliating loss, Stephen Curry had given his praise to the Celtics by stating, “They are the defending champs, so they’re coming in with a level of confidence and swagger. And it’s the exact opposite of what we have right now.”

Breaking that ‘swagger’ will not be easy, but LeBron James has a plan in hand. The 30 assists that the Lakers recorded against the Wizards’ 25 showed that the squad doesn’t hold back in “sharing the ball offensively”. Furthermore, LA’s defense held Washington in check, as reflected in their shooting percentages—35.8% from the field and 25.6% from the three-point range. With the right determination and pacing, the Lakers can secure the win in the upcoming game.

LeBron James, for his part, may be going into the matchup with a high level of determination. After all, it was only a few days ago when he had placed another set of expectations on his teammates.

LeBron James and JJ Redick emphasized “close to perfect basketball” after the loss

When the Lakers announced JJ Redick as the new head coach, LeBron James had already warned not to let too many expectations be placed on his team this season. Despite this, they had a good start to the season but eventually started recording losses in streaks, just like the Warriors. After losing to the LA Clippers by a 116-102 score, their win record went down to 22-18. In light of this, both the head coach and the team’s lead scorer indirectly received notes on how to proceed forward.

During the post-game presser, JJ Redick stated, “We don’t have a huge margin for error… We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to necessarily always draw two to the ball. We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to be able to get past his guy one-on-one and get to the paint and spread it out to the perimeter.” Reliability on teammates may have been what Redick was attempting to emphasize.

As for LeBron James, he responded to the head coach’s remarks by stating “That’s how our team is constructed. We don’t have room for error, for much error… We don’t have a choice. I mean… that’s the way our team is constructed. And we have to, we have to play close-to-perfect basketball.”

Winning against the Washington Wizards by a 111-88 score indicated that the Lakers squad may have taken their leaders’ advice to heart. Unfortunately, the Boston Celtics are a different beast altogether. Tackling them would require King James and his teammates to give their all.