Tickets for Saturday’s Lakers-Celtics matchup are most expensive ever for Boston home game

Saturday night’s marquee matchup between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers was bound to be a hot ticket with a decades-long rivalry between the two legendary NBA franchises and both teams currently holding the No. 2 seeds in their respective conferences.

However, tickets for the 8:30 p.m. ET clash might be the hottest they’ve ever been, at least from a Boston perspective. Seats for Saturday’s game are going for the highest price for a Celtics home game on record, according to TickPick.

Courtside seats are reportedly going for as much as $23,112, while the cheapest tickets at TD Garden are priced at $485. The average price for Saturday’s game is $731.

At those prices, Lakers-Celtics tickets are also the seventh-most expensive that have ever been available at TickPick.

“It’s what the fans want to see,” Jayson Tatum said after scoring 35 points in Thursday’s 123-105 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Lakers won the previous matchup versus the Celtics this season, 117-96, on Jan. 23 at Crypto.com Arena. Anthony Davis scored a game-high 24 points for the home team, while Kristaps Porziņģis led the visitors with 22.

However, Boston will see a different Lakers team on Saturday night with Luka Dončić being acquired from the Dallas Mavericks for a package including Davis. The 26-year-old star has fueled a team that has won eight consecutive games and nine of 11 since Doncic joined the roster.

At 40-21, the Lakers currently hold the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, percentage points ahead of the Denver Nuggets.

Yet the defending NBA champions are playing nearly as well, winning three in a row and eight of 11 games in February. At 45-18, the Celtics have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Lakers and Celtics tip off at Boston’s TD Garden for what many view as a possible NBA Finals preview on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.