One of the greatest rivalries in the NBA is renewed in prime time when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Boston Celtics on Saturday. By winning the title last season the Lakers matched the Celtics for the most championships in league history with 17. The clubs have nearly as many titles between them as the rest of the league. The teams have paired off in the NBA Finals a record 12 times with the last coming in 2010, and there’s a chance this season we get the Finals matchup we came close to seeing last year.
The contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics takes place at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 30, 2021, from TD Garden in Boston and will air live on ABC. BookMaker.eu will have odds for every game on the Saturday NBA schedule.
NBA Opening Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
Starting off their seven-game road trip with three straight wins kept the Lakers atop the overall league standings and perfect in away games. They aren’t going to win all their games away from Staples Center but no team in franchise history won more consecutively to start a season, and that’s saying something considering the storied history of the franchise. The 115-108 win over Cleveland gave LA 10 straight victories, though they failed to cover the spread for the first time in six roadies. Overall the Lakers are 7-3 ATS in away games. Following a pair of losses to Philadelphia and a 30-point blowout by the Knicks, the Celtics rebounded by winning two in a row. They took out some frustration against the Cavs and drubbed Chicago, improving to 10-6 SU and 9-7 ATS. When the teams met in the Garden last year the Celtics emerged with a 139-107 victory.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers wouldn’t mind playing all their games on the road considering how good they’ve been. It’s not easy to win a road game in the NBA and the Lakers are making look it easy. Part of that is because they haven’t been impacted by the coronavirus and the subsequent contact tracing and missed games that come with it. LeBron James said at the beginning of the season that the Lakers are going to do whatever they can to not be affected by the virus. Whatever they’re doing is working.
What makes the Lakers so scary is that they are equally good on both ends of the floor. With guys like LeBron and Anthony Davis you expect them to be pretty good scoring the basketball, and they are. But the Lakers are also the most efficient defensive team with a 104.2 rating while holding opponents to 104.5 points per game and 34 percent shooting from behind the arc. Frank Vogel says his players take pride in playing defense and it shows.
Thanks to a strong bench they might be even better than last season when they won their 17th NBA title. Signing Montrezl Harrell has been a boon and Kyle Kuzma has adapted to his role off the bench. Harrell is in line for another sixth man of the year honor averaging 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds.
Boston Celtics
We expect the Celtics to be near the top of the East standings when all is said and done. It’s been a rough go getting there, but with a full roster finally in play Boston is ready to make a charge. COVID impacted them with games postponed and players shelved due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
For the first time in a while the Celtics had close to a full roster and they hammered the Bulls 119-103. Jayson Tatum returned after bout with COVID to score 24 points and Jaylen Brown had 26. The team just got Kemba Walker back in the lineup after he missed the start of the year due to injury.
Walker sat out the Chicago game leaving Brad Stevens waiting for the moment he can put his top three scorers on the court together. That will likely happen on Saturday giving the Lakers plenty to defend. Tatum, Brown and Walker were the only teammates to average more than 20 points last season and they are off to a good start.
NBA Odds Pick
The Lakers have done everything right this season, from handling COVID to their performance on the court. It might take some time for the Celtics to get their shop in order after having key performers in and out of the lineup, and that’s not an issue you want to face when taking on the best team in the league. LeBron and AD are relatively new to this rivalry but they understand what it means. And winning is what matters in this matchup.
NBA Odds Prediction: Lakers 113, Celtics 106
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