Lakers Vs Celtics Live Stream: Watch Online Free 7:30 ET Friday - Rondo Returns From Torn ACL, Season Debut In NBA's Richest Rivalry
Lakers vs Celtics live stream: Watch online free 7:30 ET Friday as the most legendary rivalry in NBA history is renewed for 2014 while Rajon Rondo makes his season-debut.
The L.A. Lakers (14-25) at Boston vs the Celtics (14-26) is the first of two meetings over the next five weeks. This is a rivalry where hall of famers like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird showcased their skills in NBA finals where they met in an unprecedented 11 finals. Watch the free live stream online as this game will have no Kobe Bryant (injured) for L.A. while Boston no longer has Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but Friday night marks the return of Rajon Rondo.
Watch the free live stream online below of the great rivalry of the Lakers vs Celtics:
Coach Brad Stevens said using Rondo wasn't an option even with the team short-handed from a trade earlier in the day, not to mention fans chanting "Rondo! Rondo!" down the stretch of a tight game, but it resulted in a five-point victory for the Celtics.
"I think the community is excited, as it should be, and the players are excited as well," Stevens said of welcoming back Rondo, whose 10.2 assists per game since the start of 2008-09 is tops in the NBA."... He gets the ball to people better than anybody around. But I don't think we can expect him to be Game 7 Rajon Rondo."
Rondo couldn't return at a better time for a young team that traded away one of its better players in Jordan Crawford. Boston lost its previous nine games until the win on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Celtics opponent has lost six straight games. This game in Boston is the second of a seven-game road trip for the Lakers.
The Lakers have allowed an average of 120.7 points during its six-game skid.
"We're having trouble keeping up with athleticism in the open court and at the rim," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "... Defensively we have a hard time stopping people at the rim."
L.A. will be without Nick Young, who is suspended one game after throwing a punch at Phoenix Suns' Goran Dragic. Young leads the Lakers in points with 16.4 PPG.
"What I'm mad about is it was 1-on-5," Young said. "I felt like if someone would have gotten in the middle of everything it wouldn't have escalated as much."
