Lakers Celtics Pick
Los Angeles Lakers (+2) over Boston Celtics
The Lakers come into the TD Garden Thursday night looking to avenge their Jan. 30 loss to their old rival, the Boston Celtics.
The Lakers put together two nice road wins, winning Saturday at New Orleans 101-95, and at Memphis 93-84 on Monday. The Lakers have played well on the road this year going 17-8 SU (13-12 ATS). With veterans such as Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest and Derek Fisher, playing on the road does not faze this experienced unit. Kobe Bryant (25.4 PPG) is certainly looking forward to Thursday's rematch after dropping 41 points on Boston Jan. 30 and has averaged 29.7 PPG in his past 15 games against the C's. The Lakers also need their young center Andrew Bynum (11.3 PPG), to be a defensive presence against the stacked frontcourt of Boston.
The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics are 23-4 SU at home this year and would love to improve on that mark against their rival. Boston is banged up and will have to play without veterans Shaquille O'Neal (Achilles), Jermaine O'Neal (knee) and Delonte West (wrist). Paul Pierce missed Wednesdays' practice due to an illness, but he is expected to play Thursday. The Celtics still have their core and balanced attack ready to go with Pierce (19.0 PPG), Ray Allen (17.5 PPG), Kevin Garnett (14.9 PPG), and Rajon Rondo (10.9 PPG, 12.4 APG). Allen only needs two 3-pointers to break Reggie Miller's career record of 2,560 threes. Allen had a nice game Monday in a 94-89 loss at Charlotte, dropping 25 points, but has had no recent success against the Lakers, averaging 8.3 PPG on 11-of-44 shooting in the past four home games against Los Angeles.
Even though the Celtics are 23-4 SU at home this year, against the spread they are only 10-14. Both the Lakers and Celtics are in a rare situation where the Lakers have only been underdogs once this year (-3.5 at San Antonio) and Boston has only been a home favorite by 3 or less once (-2.5 vs. San Antonio) with both teams losing those matchups. Including the playoffs, the Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their past five meetings with the Lakers. The few days off might throw off Los Angeles, who is 2-7 ATS on 2+ days rest and also the Lakers are only 9-11 ATS against Eastern Conference teams. I'm confident the prideful Celtics will be ready to play after the embarrassing loss to Charlotte on Monday. Boston which is 22-15 ATS (60%) versus L.A. since 2026, should win and cover Thursday night against the rival Lakers.
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