Betting Odds: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers
- Spread: Celtics -6.5
- Over/Under: 222
- Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: ABC
>> All odds as of 3:00 p.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time NBA odds and track your bets
The Boston Celtics are on West coast to face the reeling Los Angeles Lakers in primetime. The Lakers are on a four game losing streak and their hopes of making the playoffs are nearly extinguished. The Celtics, meanwhile, are coming off an impressive win in Golden State.
Will the Celtics put the Lakers out of their misery? Our analysts discuss.
Betting Trends to Know
The Lakers opened as +6 underdogs at home to the Celtics. This is the 13th regular season game in the past five seasons that LeBron has been a home underdog. In the previous 12 games his team went 7-5 straight up and ATS.
LA has struggled this season against inferior competition going 9-22-1 ATS when facing an opponent with a losing record but the Lakers are 16-11 ATS when the opposing team is above .500. — John Ewing
Mears: How I'm Betting Tonight's Game
To no one’s surprise, the public has turned on James and the Lakers. So far today, the Celtics are getting 72% of the bets and 88% of the money. The line has moved from Celtics -5 at opening to -6.5.
Now I could give you all sorts of trends about this game — for example, the Celtics are just 12-18-2 ATS on the road this season — but I’m not sure they’re applicable. Per Chris Haynes, the Lakers and LeBron have agreed to cap his minutes around 28-32 each night.
That’s certainly notable, but I think more concerning than the actual number of minutes he’ll play is the fact that he agreed to a restriction. He’s seemed checked out for the last bit of the season, and for LeBron to agree to sit indicates that even in the time he plays he might continue to be, well, uninspired.
Thus, I don’t know how you bet on the Lakers here unless you’re just a masochist. There’s no indication that any of them care to show up, and several key guys are injured anyway.
Tyson Chandler (neck) is already, and Brandon Ingram (shoulder), Kyle Kuzma (ankle) and Lance Stephenson (toe) are all questionable.
Things are not great in Laker land.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are coming off perhaps their most impressive win in quite a long time, dismantling the defending champion Warriors on the road.
Boston is fighting for playoff seeding down the stretch, and the Celtics currently sit outside the top four in the East, which they need for home-court advantage in the opening round. They’re two games back from the Pacers at the No. 3 seed, so they should be motivated moving forward.
I’m not quite sure what to make of the reports of the Celtics bonding as a team (initiated by Kyrie Irving reportedly) over their recent cross-country flight. How much is that worth to the spread?
That’s an impossible question, although the overall narrative I think is compelling: The Lakers are in disarray and have nothing to play for; the Celtics are coming together and have everything to play for.
As a result, there’s likely some value on the Celtics here barring some sort of “LeBron getting up for a Kyrie/Boston game” angle that seems unlikely.
While six points seems like a lot to lay on the road anytime LeBron is playing, perhaps the safer bet is to take the Celtics moneyline instead. All signs point to the Lakers just being completely done.
Editor’s note: The opinions on this game are from the individual writers and are based on their research, analysis and perspective. They are independent of, and may not always match with, the algorithm-driven Best Bets from Sports Insights.
