3rd quarter report
The Lakers are giving their crowd exactly what they hoped for. They have a bit of cushion as they currently lead the Celtics 83-68.
If the Lakers continue to play like this, they will increase their record to 24-18 in no time. On the other hand, the Celtics will be due with a 31-14 record unless they turn things around (and quickly).
Who’s playing
Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers
Current records: Boston 31-13, Los Angeles 23-18
How to watch
What to know
After playing yesterday, the Boston Celtics will go on the road to face the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers have home-court advantage, but the Celtics should win by five points.
On Wednesday, the Celtics needed a little extra time to put away the clippers. They managed a 117-113 victory against Los Angeles. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Boston.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced offense carried the Lakers past the Wizards in every quarter en route to victory on Tuesday. It all went the way of the Lakers against the Wizards as the Lakers came through with a 111-88 victory. This 23-point margin sets a new team best for Los Angeles this season.
Anthony Davis was nothing short of spectacular: he dropped a double-double on 29 points and 16 rebounds. He’s on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he’s now pulled down ten or more in the last nine games he’s played. Another player making a difference was LeBron James, who dropped a triple-double on 21 points, ten rebounds and 13 assists.
The Lakers worked as a unit and finished the game with 30 assists. They easily outscored their opponents in this department, as the Wizards only posted 25.
Boston has performed well recently as they have won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 31-13 record this season. As for Los Angeles, they pushed their record up to 23-18 with the win, which was their third in a row at home.
The Celtics fell short against the Lakers in their previous game in February 2024, falling 114-105. Can the Celtics avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll know soon enough.
Odds
Boston is a 5-point favorite against Los Angeles, according to the latest NBA Odds.
The odds were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened up 5 points, and stayed there.
The over/under is 219.5 points.
See NBA Pick For every game, including this one, from Sportsline’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Boston has won 6 of its last 10 games against Los Angeles.
- February 1, 2024 – Los Angeles 114 vs. Boston 105
- December 25, 2023 – Boston 126 vs. Los Angeles 115
- January 28, 2023 – Boston 125 vs. Los Angeles 121
- December 13, 2022 – Boston 122 vs. Los Angeles 118
- December 7, 2021 – Los Angeles 117 vs. Boston 102
- November 19, 2021 – Boston 130 vs. Los Angeles 108
- April 15, 2021 – Boston 121 vs. Los Angeles 113
- January 30, 2021 – Los Angeles 96 vs. Boston 95
- February 23, 2020 – Los Angeles 114 vs. Boston 112
- January 20, 2020 – Boston 139 vs. Los Angeles 107
