Saturday, the Boston Celtics improved to 2-1 on their West Coast trip, cruising past the Los Angeles Clippers with a 145-108 victory.

They’ll now try to cap their four-game visit to California with a win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas.

It helps that they expect to have Jayson Tatum in the lineup for this rivalry showdown. The four-time All-Star is absent from the Celtics’ injury report ahead of their Christmas contest against the purple and gold.

He hates to miss games. Sitting out this matchup, in the arena that his childhood idol, Kobe Bryant, starred in, on the marquee date on the NBA’s regular season calendar, would’ve taken an injury more severe than a sprained ankle.

But Tatum, who suffered that injury in Tuesday’s 132-126 loss to the Golden State Warriors, was inactive for Boston’s 144-119 victory vs. the Sacramento Kings the next night.

And in the second quarter on Saturday, after drilling a side-step three from the left wing, he landed on Kobe Brown’s foot, again rolling his left ankle. Brown got whistled for a flagrant-1 for being in Tatum’s landing space.

After the game, the former Duke Blue Devil shared his immediate reaction as he was lying on the court trying to loosen up his ankle after another instance where he came down on the foot of an opposing player.

Kristaps Porzingis, who missed Saturday’s win after spraining his left ankle during the victory vs. the Kings, is questionable for Monday’s matchup.

So are Svi Mykhailiuk, who’s dealing with a left heel contusion, and Lamar Stevens, who has a non-Covid illness.

Luke Kornet, who has missed six straight games because of a left adductor strain, is probable.