NBA: Boston Celtics vs. LA Lakers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers have arguably the biggest rivalry in the NBA. The two units developed it throughout the 80s, when they ruled the league, winning titles and meeting one another in the finals. Even four decades later, when these two sides collide, everything stops for a moment. These two franchises’ reputations and backgrounds simply force something like this to happen. Boston played against the Clippers last night and is a bit tired. The Lakers are back home following a long and pretty nasty tour throughout the East.

Preview

Boston Celtics (21-7, -170) were blown away last night at the Crypto.com Arena against the LA Clippers. We haven’t seen them being so inferior for a long time, but it seems that the fatigue and all the other negative factors boosted by a long tour have finally caught up to them.

The game against the Clips was the fifth in a row on the road, and may we say that the Celtics had an extremely tough schedule. At first, they visited the Nets, then the Raptors and Suns, winning all of those events, before losing to the Warriors and now the Clippers.

In the 113-93 loss, the best player of the Cs was Jaylen Brown, who had 21 points, and Jayson Tatum had one point fewer with 11 boards. Them two shot 3-for-14 from deep, and were visibly out of rhythm. Malcolm Brogdon scored 18 off the bench, and overall, the Cs weren’t in the rhythm against the LAC.

LA Lakers (11-15, +145) ended their six-game trip around the league and finally got back home. It was an exhausting period for the purple and gold, but they still managed to put up three wins and losses throughout the East, beating the Bucks and the Wizards, then losing to the Cavaliers, Raptors, and Sixers before winning in Detroit.

Overall, they didn’t play badly, keeping in mind that they had to rest Davis and LBJ on certain occasions. Let us remind you that AD got the Player of the Week honors for the previous seven days and that his game is at a much higher level now than before.

He and Bron had an astonishing night in the Motor City. Davis scored 34 points with 15 boards and seven assists, keeping his playing level high. On the other side, LeBron dropped 35 buckets, going at the Pistons’ defence all night long.

Head to Head Games

The two teams used the home-court edge last year, with the Celtics triumphing at home, 130-108, and after that, the Lakers getting even in California, 117-102. The all-time series record is on the Celtics’ side, with them having 30 triumphs more, 163-133.

Prediction

The tension here will be high, because these types of games are a bit different than the “ordinary” ones. The Lakers are solid on the offensive side of the ball, while the Celtics did slow down when it comes to the defensive assignments lately. Also, we don’t believe Tatum and Brown’s cold streak has to stop at some point, and this is the perfect moment. That’s why we take over 233.5 points in this one.

Pick: Over 233.5 points -110