The Clippers come to Boston on the back of a five-game winning streak and will face their toughest opponent of the season so far, the defending champion, 15-3 Celtics.

Game information

Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

When: 4:30 PM PT

How to watch: KTLA, AM 570

Projected starting lineups

Hair clippers: James Harden – Amir Coffey – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac

Celtics: Derrick White – Jrue Holiday – Jaylen Brown – Jason Tatum – Xavier Tillman

Injuries

Hair clippers: Kawhi Leonard out (Knee), Norm Powell Doubtful (Hamstring), PJ Tucker out (off team), Trentyn Flowers out (G-League), Cam Christie out (G-League)

Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis Doubtful (Foot), Luke Kornet Doubtful (Hamstring), Al Horford Doubtful (Rest)

The antagonist

If the Celtics aren’t the best team in the league, they’re at the top. At 15-3, the Celtics are in the top three in Net Rating alongside the Thunder and Cavaliers with top 10 units on both sides of the ball. The Celtics’ depth isn’t the best, but they make up for it with an exceptional starting unit that blows away most competition and can be spread in various combinations to support bench units. That they’re doing all this without starting center Kristaps Porzingis is even more impressive — their perimeter defense and shooting are good enough that they can do it without his rim protection and plus shooting. The Celtics fear no one and are virtually unbeatable at home. A loss to them on the road on the second night of a back-to-back is more or less expected (although the Celtics played last night too). Schedule-wise, this could be the toughest game on the Clippers’ calendar all season.

Comments

The defensive assignments: The tough thing about the Celtics is that they start four perimeter players that you really have to guard. That means there’s no soft shelter for James Harden, though I expect they’ll “store” him with Jrue Holiday, who is the absolute worst offensive player at this point in his career between him, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum . . My guess is Coffey is on White, with Dunn and DJJ on the Celtics’ star wings. Normally, Dunn gets the other team’s best offensive player in Tatum, but I’m sure the Clippers will shift like crazy regardless. The key for the Clippers will be to limit the Celtics’ three-pointers as much as possible and route them to Ivica Zubac at the rim. It will be a huge test for the Clippers, who have shown their mettle on defense time and time again this year but have never experienced anything like the buzzsaw of the Celtics.

Keeping Harden going: The Clippers had James Harden’s most efficient scoring game of the season last night, as he scored 23 points on just 10 shots in the Sixers’ loss. The Celtics are a whole different story. They are tall, physical and like to pressure opposing ballhandlers – all things that could confuse Harden. The fact that the Celtics have so many plus defensemen also means that it will be difficult for the supporting Clippers to cook, which puts a heavy burden on Harden’s shoulders. If he can hit his usual 20 and 9, even if it’s inefficient, the Clippers might have a chance to win. If he underperforms that by a significant margin, they’ll likely be blown away.