BOSTON – For all his time in Boston, Celtics coach Brad Stevens has never allowed growth and progress for his team to be measured just in wins and losses.
 
Still, Stevens knows, ultimately, success in the NBA over time involves winning. And in Boston, even winning isn’t enough to fully satisfy the appetite of a fan base that has an insatiable taste for championships.
 
Well, the Celtics are definitely trending in that direction, not only because of the new faces added to the mix but because of how the team has managed to rack up the victories.
 
In fact, a victory tonight for Boston (9-2) would get them to double-digits in wins faster than any of Stevens’ previous four Celtics team.

The last time Boston opened a season with at least 10 wins this quickly was in 2008 when they opened with 10 wins in their first 12 games.
 
Here are five below-the-radar storylines involving the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers (5-5) as they renew their rivalry tonight with Boston trying to extend its winning streak to 10 while handing the Lakers a fourth consecutive loss in the series:
 

Things tend to go well for the Celtics when Al Horford is on the floor. How well you ask? Horford is the only player in the NBA who has had a positive plus/minus in every game his team has played this season. Considering how well he has played at both ends of the floor all season, that’s understandable.

The Celtics did as expected in keeping Marcus Morris from playing in back-to-back games. His last game on Sunday against Orlando, was his first start of the season. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the decision was in part because Morris was a better matchup against the Magic than Aron Baynes. The Lakers start Brook Lopez at center which you would think would mean Baynes back in the starting lineup. But with Lopez not being a very good rebounder who now looks to shoot a lot more from beyond 3-point range, no one should be surprised if Stevens decides to go with Morris at power forward and Al Horford at center.
 

This will likely have no impact at all on tonight’s game, but it’s a kind of quirky, cool factoid nonetheless. The Celtics have the No. 3 picks in the past two drafts, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, in their starting lineup tonight. The Lakers  counter with the No. 2 picks in the past two drafts, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, in their starting lineup.  Pretty cool, huh?

There are few players in this rookie class (if any) that have a better-looking jumper than Jayson Tatum. And yet as good as that aspect of his game may be, the talk among Celtics players and coach Brad Stevens about his defense isn’t just to take so much focus off of what he can do with the ball offensively. The kid is really, really good defensively, which is why Stevens plays him 30-plus minutes a night. Tatum comes in with a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 94.2 which is really good for any player in the league. But it really stands out when you see that it is tops among all rookies averaging at least 30 minutes per game.

Tonight will be the 287th time these teams have met, which includes when the Lakers called Minneapolis home. Boston leads the all-time series, 158-128. And while the overall record may be ancient history to some, the Celtics control of this series remains alive and well today with Boston coming in having won the past three meetings.