Tip-off: 0035, 21/01/2020
Stadium: TD Garden
TV: Sky Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers are sitting pretty at the top of the Western Conference but face a tough test tonight when they head to Boston.
The Celtics are fourth in the East with only five home defeats and the Lakers are starting as only slight favourites.
They have the best away record in the NBA, though, so we’re backing Los Angeles for the win at 87/100 as our opening Celtics vs Lakers prediction.
A Look At Boston Celtics’ Betting Odds
The Celtics are facing the Western Conference leaders at a bad time having suffered three successive defeats.
After losing at home to the Detroit Pistons and then on the road at the Milwaukee Bucks, they were expected to get back on track on Saturday night at home to the Phoenix Suns.
Instead they suffered a shock 123-119 reverse as not even a 43-point fourth quarter was enough to complete the comeback having lost each of the first three quarters.
They will need to improve defensively to have any hope against the Lakers and a high-scoring match is expected.
Four of their last seven matches have produced 242 points or more while the last five games involving the Lakers have averaged over 236 points.
With that in mind, we’ll add over 229.5 points at 3/2 in our Celtics vs Lakers betting tips.
A Look At Los Angeles Lakers’ Betting Odds
The Lakers suffered a surprise one-point defeat against the Orlando Magic last Wednesday night but produced the perfect response at the weekend, disposing of the Rockets 124-115 in Houston.
Although Houston started strongly to open up a seven-point lead after the first quarter, they ultimately were not able to fend off a 31-point explosion from LeBron James.
The 35-year-old veteran provided pivotal leadership down the stretch as he also finished with 12 assists and two steals.
The loss against the Magic was the Lakers’ first defeat in 10 matches so that was a rare setback and even then it needed a pair of two-pointers in the last minute to beat them.
The performance in Houston showed there is no reason to read too much into it and the Lakers now face a Boston team (27-14) with a very similar record to the Rockets (26-15).
The same sort of outcome can be expected tonight and the Lakers to win by 6-10 points appeals at 15/4 in the Celtics vs Lakers odds.
Additional stats
Last result:
CELTICS 119-123 Suns
Rockets 115-124 LAKERS
Head-to-head: Lakers 107-120 Celtics, Celtics 128-Lakers 129, Lakers 108-107 Celtics, Celtics 107-Lakers 96
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