The LA Lakers (2-3) and Boston Celtics (2-2) look to continue their long-standing rivalry tonight in what should be a great game.
The teams come into this game from completely opposing directions as the Lakers are off a blow-out loss in which they set a franchise-low for points in a game while the Celtics thrashed the Bulls 91-69 last night in Chicago.
Wagering on or against the Lakers during the NBA season is all about picking your spots. We played against them in that Cavaliers game as they often struggle to cover against lower-echelon teams. With three straight championships they can lack motivation at times during the 82 game grind of an NBA season. But tonight we expect them to be fully motivated following their embarrassing last-game effort in which they shot just 32%. Kobe Bryant in particular was fuming and expect him to go close to another triple-double tonight.
It's quite rare to be getting points with the Lakers but they do play well in this role, especially on the road where they have an 18-6 Against The Spread (ATS) record recently as an underdog. The loss of Shaq shouldn't be as big a factor tonight against the Celtics as it was against teams like the Cav's or Spurs who have dominant centers.
The Lakers have won 5 of the last 7 match-ups in Boston and we like their chances of winning straight-up or losing by less than 3 points.
Recommended Play: Lakers +3.5
