Los Angeles Lakers (23-26) vs. Boston Celtics (35-15)
January 28, 2023 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Boston Celtics -7.5; Over/Under: +238
(Get latest betting odds)
An old rivalry is revisited as the Los Angeles Lakers travel to the TD Garden to battle the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been in decent shape as they’ve won four of their last six games overall and they will be eager to stay hot after beating the Spurs in a 113-104 won on Wednesday. Anthony Davis led the team in scoring with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks off the bench, LeBron James added 20 points with nine rebounds and 11 assists, while Patrick Beverley chipped in with 18 points. As a team, the Lakers shot 44 percent from the field and 10 of 33 from the 3-point line as they went back and forth with the Spurs in a close contest, until the fourth quarter where they were finally able to pull away behind their defense.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics look to have cooled off from their nine-game win streak as they are now hoping to avoid a fourth straight defeat after getting beaten by the Knicks in a 120-117 overtime loss on Thursday. Jayson Tatum led the team with 35 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, Jaylen Brown added 22 points while Derrick White chipped in with 15 points. As a team, the Celtics shot just 41 percent from the field and 16 of 46 from the 3-point line as they rallied back from a 12-point deficit, only to come up just short in overtime where they scored just seven points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games, 6-16-1 ATS in their last 23 games against a team with a winning record and 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games overall. The Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last five home games, 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games against a team with a losing record and 0-5 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the over is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings overall, the Lakers are 1-6-1 ATS in the last eight meetings overall and the Lakers are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings in Boston.
The Lakers are keeping eyes on Lonnie Walker and LeBron James who are both questionable, while the Celtics will again be without Marcus Smart for this one. Surprisingly, it has been the Lakers who are coming into this meeting with momentum and they will be growing in confidence with every game that Anthony Davis can play. The Celtics have really gone off the boil recently and the absence of Smart cost them again in a close loss to the Knicks on Thursday. It’s always a battle when these two teams collide, so while I like the Celtics to snap out of their funk with a win, I have the Lakers hanging around till the end to get the cover.
