NBA Spreads: Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Celtics
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Boston Celtics will go for the regular-season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers when the two teams face off at TD Garden tonight. Boston won the first game in Los Angeles 109-96 back on Jan. 30. Tip-off is set for 8:00 ET and will be televised nationally on TNT.
Our NBA spreads indicate that the Celtics are favored by 2.5-points over the Lakers with the total set at 187.5.
The Lakers come into the game off two straight wins to start their seven-game road trip. Los Angeles won 101-95 at New Orleans on Saturday and then followed that up with a 93-84 win at Memphis on Monday. The Lakers have won four of the last five regular-season games at Boston.
The Celtics fell 94-89 at Charlotte on Monday, but that shouldn’t have fans worried. Boston had just played Dallas and Orlando, and had Los Angeles and Miami up next on the schedule. The Celtics are 23-4 on their home court this season.
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There has been a lot of rumors floating around the last couple days about Carmelo Anthony possibly heading to the Lakers before the trade-deadline, and it will be interesting to see if that has any effect on how this team plays.
In the Lakers last game against Memphis all five starters scored in double-figures, and Lamar Odom came off the bench to drop 15 points and grab 11 boards. Kobe Bryant led the way with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, but he also turned the ball over six times. Pau Gasol ended up with 17 points and nine rebounds, and Andrew Bynum, who is the center of the trade talk for Anthony, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Los Angeles had to rely heavily on Bryant in the first game against the Celtics, as he finished with a game-high 41 points, but all that got the Lakers was a 13-point loss. If Los Angeles is going to get revenge on the Celtics, they have to have a much more balanced attack, and it starts with the inside play of Gasol and Bynum.
While a lot is being made about the Celtics injury problems right now, I don’t think it will be much of a factor in this game. Boston still has Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins, and Nate Robinson. As long as no one gets into early foul trouble the Celtics should be just fine.
In the last game against the Lakers, Pierce went off for 32 points, Ray Allen went 3-7 from downtown on his way to 21 points, Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Glen Davis came off the bench to score 13 in just 23 minutes. If Ray Allen can make two three-pointers tonight, he will break Reggie Miller’s NBA career record of 2,560.
In the last game against the Lakers, it was just the third game back for Kendricks Perkins, who came off the bench to score two points in 28 minutes. In the Celtics last game against Charlotte, Perkins had just eight points, but played 35 minutes, and should be a much bigger factor in the game tonight.
Even with the Lakers recent success at the Garden, I think your money has to be on the Celtics to win this game and cover the 2.5-points spread. While the players may say this game doesn’t mean anything, don’t let them fool you, Boston wants to send Los Angeles a statement that they can’t win on their home court.
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