The Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Boston Celtics at Staples Center on Tuesday.

The Celtics (13-11) got off to a nightmarish start but enter this matchup winning 11 of their last 17 games. That's a lengthy streak of success, and it's turned around a surprisingly poor start. The one thing holding them back is health. Jaylen Brown has been in and out of the lineup due to a hamstring issue all year and it's been even tougher with Al Horford and Robert Williams missing some games as well. What that has done is allow Jayson Tatum and Dennis Schroder to gel. The German point guard was actually a bargain for Boston in the offseason, and he's proving why he took down Sixth Man of the Year just two years ago.

The Lakers (12-12) simply can't get anything going, but it's not like they're playing terribly either. They haven't had a streak longer than three wins or three losses at any point this season, which is truly shocking for a team that's filled with superstars. Fans were panicking when LeBron James landed in COVID protocols last week, but it appears that it was a false-positive test, with LeBron suiting up in the team's most recent loss. He's been in and out of the lineup all season and it paints a clearer picture of why this team can't find any consistency. In any case, this team has all the talent in the world and will surely be in the thick of things for the remainder of the season, no matter what sort of drama they face.

These teams played back on November 19, with Boston dominating, 130-108. With that said, these clubs have split the last four season series against one another.