Losers of six of their last seven games and eight of their last 10, the Los Angeles Lakers look like a lost cause for this NBA season and now face a rejuvenated Boston Celtics squad tonight. The Lakers have failed to cover the spread in their last seven games with four of those games at home. The Celtics, on the other hand, look to be putting the bad vibes behind them and should feel confident in this matchup after rolling over the Warriors and Kings.
The Celtics opened as 4.5-point favorites with a total of 220.5
STANDOUT STATS
- The Celtics are 4-7-2 ATS in their last 13 road games. The Celtics allow 107.4 points per road game which is close to their home average but are only scoring 109.8 points per road game compared to 114.5 points at home.
- The Celtics are 8-1 SU in their last nine games vs teams with losing records and 9-2 SU in their last 11 road games vs teams with losing records. For ATS purposes, the Celtics are 1-5-1 ATS in their last six road games vs teams with losing records.
- The total has gone UNDER in 10 of the Celtics' last 11 games on the road (Avg combined score: 214.73).
- The Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma and Tyson Chandler have been ruled out with Brandon Ingram questionable to play.
- The Lakers are allowing 121.4 points per game since LeBron returned from injury (14 games), which ranks 28th.
- The Lakers are 2-7 SU and ATS in nine games as a home underdog this season.
My Best Bet for Celtics vs Lakers
Celtics -4.5
"Operation: Fade LeBron" was an early season exercise for myself that was very profitable but now, I almost feel bad for him. The Lakers will be without Kyle Kuzma and Tyson Chandler and seem to be just going through the motions to end this season. LeBron still doesn’t look right even though he has played 13 games after returning from a groin injury and the Lakers defense has been horrendous all year.
I think the Celtics are one of the more polarizing teams to wager on because you don’t know what team will step onto the floor but when they’re all getting along, they’re formidable. I think the -4.5 spread is too low and can’t envision a scenario where the Lakers win this game or keep it within five points. The motivation factor should all be dismissed because the Lakers should’ve been motivated for over a month now to get back in the playoff hunt and they’ve done nothing to show me that they have the grit to win as a home dog.
