One of the best rivalries in all of sports will wrap in the second leg of TNT’s Thursday night doubleheader when the Boston Celtics invade Tinseltown to run up against the skeleton crew otherwise known as the Los Angeles Lakers. While the defending champs have kept themselves afloat without the services of Anthony Davis or LeBron James for the better part of the last two months, the team as it’s currently comprised has struggled against playoff bound teams; even more so against teams expected to vie for the title. While the Celtics aren’t currently considered to be a threat to win it all evidenced by their 44-1 return at online sportsbooks to be the last team standing, Brad Stevens’s squad has been playing a much better brand of ball since the calendar turned to April. With LA still down its pair of superstars, the C’s will be in line to avenge that one point home loss absorbed at the end of January and even the regular season rivalry up.
This East/West showdown is set to go down live on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. ET from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The game will be broadcast live on TNT. We'll have NBA odds available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game on Thursday’s abbreviated NBA slate.
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Odds Analysis
Putting Boston’s overall body of work under the microscope shows a huge disparity in its home/road splits. As hosts, the Celtics stand 17-10 SU and 15-12 ATS. Not but, but not great either. The team has however been tough to watch playing away from the TD Garden in going 11-16 SU and against the closing NBA odds. But if we erase the team’s early struggles as visitors and only concentrate on the here and now, a more positive picture starts to take shape. Boston will invade Portland on Tuesday night winners of three straight on the road after taking down Milwaukee (122-114) as 6-point favorites, Oklahoma City (111-94) as 6.5-point favorites and most recently Denver (105-87) as 3.5-point dogs. Should they find a way to dispose of Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers as short underdogs, they’ll enter this tilt with the Lake Show having covered each of their last five away from Beantown.
Boston Celtics
I faded the Celtics on Sunday against the Nuggets. Things looked pretty decent at the break as well as after the third quarter. Then all of a sudden, Nikola Jokic and company forgot how to put the biscuit in the basket. Boston would go on to outscore the Nuggs 31-8 in the fourth and final quarter to secure the impressive 105-87 come-from-behind outright win and cover as 3.5-point underdogs. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum would go on to steal the show with the duo combining for 48 points and 18 rebounds, while the other double-digit scoring was rounded out by Robert Williams III (10), and both Marcus Smart (14) and Kemba Walker (14). The offense would shoot 45 percent from the field and limit the Nuggets to a poor 36 percent showing.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers will head into Tuesday night’s throw down with the Charlotte Hornets having alternated wins and losses in each of their last six played games. After coming up with a surprising 126-101 outright win over the Nets in Brooklyn as bloated 11.5-point underdogs, LA would return to being the cannon fodder it’s been since LBJ went down the following game in New York. After taking a 28-26 lead with it into the second quarter, the Knicks would go on to outscore the Lakers 85-68 the rest of the way to cruise to the 111-96 win and cover as laughable 1-point favorites. After blitzing the Nets from beyond the arc just two days prior, it went on to convert just 12 of 36 in the Big Apple where Julius Randle had himself some fun by scoring a game-high 34 points.
Boston vs. Los Angeles Prediction
While it’s Celtics/Lakers, this game simply doesn’t deserve to be nationally televised. Los Angeles is a shell of its former self without its two best players on the hardwood. Unfortunately, there isn’t an option to flex games set to go in front of a nationally televised audience in and out. Have you had fun watching this team over the last three weeks? I certainly haven’t! With that, I’ll have no interest getting involved in this game and only recommend backing the red hot Celtics if forced to make a play. While LA needs to win as many games possible to withstand the Blazers, Mavs and Grizzlies, Boston needs to log as many wins as possible with it currently lined up to partake in the play-in tourney just to qualify for the postseason. Look for a determined effort to be put forth by the visiting team to even the series up and take one step closer towards punching an auto-bid to the second season.
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