The Lakers six game road swing continues tonight with a stop in Boston to face the surging Celtics. This evening’s classic match-up, which will be televised live on TNT, is scheduled to get underway at 8:00pm ET at the TD Garden. NBA Odds have Boston listed as a -3.5 against the spread home favorite; the game total is set at 177.5 points.
Los Angeles got its current six game road trip started in fine fashion with an unexpected 93-89 win over the Denver Nuggets, but the wheels have since come off for Kobe Bryant and company. The Lakers fell to the Jazz 87-96 on Saturday and they lost 90-95 to the 76ers on Monday night to fall to 14-11 overall, a mark that has them 2.5 games back of the first place Clippers in the Pacific standings.
The Philadelphia loss, which brought Los Angeles road record to an abysmal 3-9, saw Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum post double-doubles, but the team shot just 42 percent from the field and turned the ball over 16 times to Philly’s four. The Lakers also missed on 17 of their 24 three point attempts while the 76ers knocked down 8-of-17 from beyond the arc. Bryant, who moved up to fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in the loss, disappeared in the second half against Philly as 24 of his 28 points came before the break.
The Lakers will need to regroup quickly if they hope to stymy the red hot Celtics tonight. Boston got the season off to a rough start, but it has played like one of the best teams in the league over the last couple of weeks, winning nine of its last 10 games, including its last five in a row.
The Celtics, which conclude a five game home stand tonight, defeated the woeful Bobcats 94-84 on Tuesday night to improve to 14-10 and get within 3.5 games of Atlantic leader Philadelphia. Boston shot a horrific 17.4 percent from three point range in the win, but still finished the game 41-of-81 from the field. Five players scored in double figures, including Paul Pierce, who notched 15 points to become the No. 2 scorer in Celtics history. Kevin Garnett led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
The Lakers have got the better of this series of late, beating Boston four times in the last six meetings between the two long time rivals; however, the Celtics have won two of the last three, including the last two at the TD Garden. Boston has been rather poor in this evening’s situation, though, going just 1-5 both straight up and against the spread in its last six games as a home favorite with a spread between 0 and 3.5 and a total between 175 and 180 points.
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Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics 2012 NBA Odds: Provided by TopBet.com
Los Angeles Lakers +3.5 (-110), Over 177.5 (-110)
Boston Celtics -3.5 (-110), Under 177.5 (-110)
