Celtics Vs Lakers: Celtics win 111-89 in Game #56 at Crypto.com Arena
In the second and final meeting of the season, celtics vs lakers ended 111-89 on February 22, 2026, a result that concludes this season’s head-to-head and factors into both teams’ stretches of games and standings. The matchup took place in Game #56 at Crypto. com Arena, a late-February regular-season meeting that followed an earlier December contest.
Game details, timing and earlier meeting
The teams met Sunday, February 22, 2026, in the regular-season Game #56 at 6: 30 PM ET at Crypto. com Arena, with the Celtics emerging 111-89. This was the second and final game between the clubs this season; the first meeting came on December 5, when the Celtics won 125-105 in Boston. In that December game the Celtics were at full strength while the Lakers were without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart.
Celtics Vs Lakers season series and historical record
The two clubs split last season’s series, with each team winning on its home court. Across the all-time series, the Celtics lead 168-135. In games played at the Lakers’ home arena the Celtics are 55-78 overall. This February meeting served as the season finale between the franchises.
Boston Celtics: record, positioning and remaining schedule
Boston entered this stretch with a 36-19 record and sat 2nd in the Eastern Conference, 5. 5 games behind first-place Detroit. They were 1 game ahead of 3rd-place Cleveland and 1. 5 games ahead of 4th-place New York, 3 games ahead of 5th-place Toronto, 6 games ahead of 6th-place Philadelphia and 6. 5 games ahead of 7th-place Orlando. The Celtics were 12-6 against Western Conference opponents, 18-10 on the road, 8-2 in their last 10 games and had won their last two games entering this matchup.
Boston was playing the second game of a four-game Western road trip. They beat Golden State 121-110 on Thursday and were scheduled to play Phoenix and Denver back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday to close out the trip. After the road swing they were set to return home for games against Brooklyn and Philadelphia before a trip to Milwaukee, then home dates with Charlotte and Dallas prior to a three-game road trip through Cleveland, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Following that they were scheduled to host Washington, Phoenix and Golden State.
Los Angeles Lakers: record, roster moves and home stand
The Lakers entered at 34-21 and 5th in the Western Conference. They trailed first-place Oklahoma City by 8 games, were 5 games behind second-place San Antonio, 1 game behind third-place Denver, half a game behind fourth-place Houston and tied with sixth-place Minnesota. Los Angeles was 2. 5 games ahead of seventh-place Phoenix. The Lakers were 11-7 against Eastern Conference opponents, 16-10 at home, 6-4 in their last 10 games and had won their last two games entering this matchup.
The Lakers largely kept their core intact but made a few additions: they brought in DeAndre Ayton to shore up center, signed Marcus Smart and added Jake LaRavia as a free agent. At the trade deadline they traded Gabe Vincent to Atlanta for Luke Kennard to add a sharpshooter off the bench. Los Angeles was playing the seventh game of an eight-game home stand and was 4-2 so far on that stretch; the home stand was set to close with a game against Orlando. After that they had road games at Phoenix and Golden State, then home games against Sacramento and New Orleans, a one-off at Denver and a subsequent five-game home stand hosting Indiana, New York, Minnesota, Chicago and Denver.
Injuries, probable starters and matchup notes
Both teams were listed as healthy other than Jayson Tatum for the Celtics, who remained out rehabbing from a torn Achilles. The Lakers had no one on their injury report. The projected Celtics starting five in this matchup was expected to be White, Scheierman, Brown, Hauser and Queta; the write-up noted an assumption that Boston would once again start that group. The Lakers were thought likely to stick with the starters they used in their Friday win over the Clippers: Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Jordan. That particular Lakers starting lineup had been used only once because of injuries, but the team considered it their strongest starting five.
Probable starting matchup at the point was listed as Derrick White versus Luka Doncic.
Immediate takeaways and what followed
The 111-89 result sealed the season’s two-game slate between the clubs and carried implications for each team’s ongoing road and home stretches: Boston closed out a multi-game West trip and had a dense slate of follow-up opponents, while Los Angeles continued through a long home stand with a mix of road games ahead. The final score completes the listed head-to-head results for the season between these two franchises.
