The Los Angeles Lakers head to the northeast this weekend and are set to take on the Boston Celtics in a Friday night showdown. This is one of the more intriguing historical matchups as these franchises are two of the most storied franchises in the NBA and have met 12 times in the NBA Finals. Of course, things are a bit different now. The Lakers are rebuilding though Boston now sits second in the Eastern Conference standings.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, February 3, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at the TD Garden. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Friday schedule.
Odds Analysis
With several top draft picks from the last few years, the Lakers still haven’t made much progress in the standings as they are still battling it out with Phoenix for the worst record in the Western Conference.
Given that, it’s not surprising that this team has lost three straight and eight of nine as of Tuesday. All in all, the team is just 3-6 ATS in those nine games, though they’ve fared better ATS lately, covering back-to-back games and three of its last four contests.
The team’s last two ATS victories came on the road as they will continue a stretch of eight road games in nine total contests when they head to Boston on Friday.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, the Celtics are climbing the standings. They’ve won four straight games; and despite a three game skid immediately prior to that, they’ve still gone 17-6 in their last 23 games. Boston hasn’t been quite as good ATS in that time, going 14-8-1, but they’ve still managed to cover the spread more consistently than Los Angeles.
Injury Report
For Avery Bradley, the Achilles is still on the mend, but he hopes to be back in action this week.
Boston’s gotten by pretty well in Avery’s absence as Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart have been viable compliments to Isaiah Thomas on the outside. Of course, Thomas has stepped up his game quite considerably, too.
With Avery back, the Celtics can again look to his strong shooting on the outside to help give the defense an extra thing to concern itself with beyond trying to slow Thomas.
Al Horford is also back on the court after missing a few games. He had 13-points, six rebounds and six assists in his first game back on Monday. Horford, of course, is the big man in the middle and he and Bradley rank first and second on the team in rebounds per game which should make Boston much more dangerous on the boards with both back.
The Lakers may also be getting a couple key players out. Former first round picks D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle were each out Thursday. Randle is dealing with pneumonia while Russell is recovering from a knee sprain. He should be back for Friday’s game, but Randle remains a question.
Player to Watch
With Randle and Russell dealing with injury issues, Brandon Ingram is the sole for-sure healthy one of the team’s last three lottery picks that most experts point to as the nucleus of the next great Lakers’ team.
They’re all three important to this game and the team’s future, but the player to watch closest is Ingram.
The small forward out of Duke came with a lot of hype and has been slowly worked into the mix. He had been showing potential and improving until a recent cold stretch that’s seen him go just 2-for-23 in his last three games, scoring just six points.
The struggles are getting into his head now, too. In the Lakers’ most recent game against the Jazz, Ingram was gifted a few open shots and hesitated in each. He wasn’t ready for the shots and has doubted himself.
Ingram will need to snap out of it and get back to showing flashes of brilliance alongside Randle and Russell, if healthy, if the team’s going to have a chance for the upset on the road.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Thomas will be the best player on the court and while the Lakers have a number of talented youngsters, Boston’s Bradley and Horford could be the second and third best on the court, too, unless we witness one of Los Angeles’ trio’s good games.
Thomas has put up gaudy numbers now for more than a month and is coming off of a 41-point game against Detroit. He’s scored at least 35 points in eight of his last 12 games. Add in a healthy Bradley and Horford and this team is stacked.
Really, the only down side to the Celtics is a below-average defense ranked in the bottom third of the NBA, but the Lakers are right there with them and have a much weaker and less consistent offense to boot.
NBA Odds: Celtics 117, Lakers 106
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