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It’s rivalry week in the NBA, and arguably the biggest rivalry in basketball is between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. The two franchises have a deep history against each other, and the two teams will face off tonight in Los Angeles.
The Celtics (31-13) are on a back-to-back after playing the Clippers last night, and the Lakers (23-18) beat the Wizards at home on Tuesday night. Let’s preview this exciting matchup with our expert’s best bet for the game.
Playing a back-to-back isn’t easy, and the Celtics made it even more difficult on themselves after going to overtime last night. The Celtics were across town at the brand-new Intuit Dome and beat the Clippers 117-113 in an overtime thriller. Boston was without Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis, which meant they were spread thin on their forwards. Fortunately for the Celtics, they had Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta, and Jordan Walsh step up in their absences.
That win pushed the Celtics to 2-0 on their West Coast road trip as they blew out the Warriors earlier this week by 40 points. Boston has shown glimpses of their dominance from last season, but games like last night demonstrated that the team has weaknesses. The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Ivica Zubac, and Norman Powell, and yet their bench unit still pushed the Celtics to overtime.
Boston hopes to get Holiday, Horford, and Porzingis back tonight. When the Celtics are healthy, they have looked fantastic. But injuries have been the biggest issue for the team that hopes to defend their title. With that said, the Celtics still rank 5th in defensive rating and 5th in turnover percentage in January.
The Lakers find themselves in the middle of the very competitive Western Conference. L.A. is currently 5th in the conference and 12 games back of the Thunder in 1st place. The duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is the team’s engine and usually leads the team in points and rebounds each night. Along with those two, the Lakers have been getting productive minutes from Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and Max Christie lately.
The biggest issue for the Lakers has been mediocrity. L.A. is 5-5 in their last 10 games and ranks 15th in offensive rating and 15th in defensive rating. A mediocre team will struggle in the Western Conference because of how talented the teams are. For example, the Suns are just 2.0 games back of the Lakers, but they are in 10th place in the conference.
Home-court advantage goes a long way for the Lakers. They are 15-6 in Los Angeles and just 8-12 on the road, which is something to keep in mind for this matchup. Plus, the Lakers have won 5 of their last 6 at home.
The Celtics would likely be closer to 7 or 8-point favorites if they weren’t on a back-to-back. Playing 2 games in 2 days is not easy, so we’re going to see some tired legs for the Celtics tonight. One player who has not fared well in the second half of a back-to-back is Jayson Tatum. Boston’s star player has scored 23, 20, 17, 18 and 20 points in the second game of a back-to-back in the last 5 instances.
We’re likely going to see a lot of Boston’s bench tonight to try and help the starters too, so I’m not expecting Tatum to play more than 35 minutes if he doesn’t have to. With that in mind, I don’t think he’ll score too much.
Keith is a sports writer who has evolved into a sports betting personality across social media in the past several years. He specializes in MLB but also writes about the NFL and NBA.