Celtics and Lakers meet again, with both teams rolling

The NBA’s oldest and loudest rivalry hits center stage Friday night when the Lakers visit the Celtics, and for once, both sides are coming in hot.

The Lakers just beat Toronto on a Rui Hachimura buzzer-beater and got a 44-point heater from Austin Reaves, who continues to look like someone who thinks he belongs in this rivalry.

They are 16-5 and an impressive 9-2 on the road. They’re also shooting a league-best 51 percent, which usually travels.

The Celtics have been strong at home at 7-4, and they still chuck and connect from deep better than almost anyone.

Derrick White is leading the team in made threes and Jaylen Brown continues to carry the scoring load while Jayson Tatum recovers from an Achilles injury.

Boston has won eight of its last 10 and is averaging 122 points over that stretch. In other words, they look like the Celtics.

Both teams have questions. Luka Doncic is listed as day-to-day due to a personal matter and Marcus Smart is dealing with a back issue.

Brown (illness) is day-to-day on Boston’s side. Even so, the atmosphere alone usually wakes up the building.

The Celtics open as the favorite. The Lakers arrive with the NBA’s best road record. One side fires threes, the other shoots the lights out inside the arc.

It is December, not June, but it is still Lakers–Celtics. That’s usually enough.