Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 1/30/21
2021-01-30 20:30:00 EDT
The Los Angeles Lakers travel to the TD Garden to do battle with the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers have won eight of their past 11 games, but they will be hoping to avoid a third straight loss after getting routed by the Pistons in a 107-92 road loss on Thursday. LeBron James led the team with 22 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists, Kyle Kuzma added 22 points with 10 rebounds while Talen Horton-Tucker chipped in with 13 points off the bench. As a team, the Lakers shot just 40 percent from the field and 12 of 28 from the 3-point line as they took a two-point lead at halftime, before going ice-cold in the second half where they managed just 34 points in what looked like their worst half of their season.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics have been in a bit of a rut themselves as they’ve lost four of their last six games and they will be hoping to bounce back after falling short to the Spurs in a 110-106 road loss on Wednesday. Jayson Tatum led the team with 25 points, seven rebounds and four steals, Jaylen Brown added 24 points with five assists and two blocks, while Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart each scored 14 points. As a team, the Celtics shot just 42 percent from the field and 10 of 30 from the 3-point line as they as they rallied all the way back from a 15-point halftime deficit, only to go ice-cold when it mattered most as they managed just 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Looking at the betting trends, the Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a loss of more than 10 points and 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games against a team with a winning home record. The Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last five home games, 1-4 ATS in their last five games playing on two days’ rest and 0-4 ATS in their last four games against a team above .600.
Head to head, the over is 5-0 in the last five meetings overall and the Lakers are 2-5 ATS in the last seven meetings overall.
As has been the case for almost the entire season so far, both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are listed as questionable for this game, but I’m sure they’ll play if they’re able simply because of this historic rivalry. These two teams are so closely matched and they’re both coming into this one off the back of losses, so you could go with either side here. With that being said, the Lakers are 2-5 ATS in the last seven meetings overall and I like the Celtics as slight home underdogs in this spot. Give me the Celtics to pull off the minor upset in a close one.
