NBA Betting Picks: Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Lines and Best Bets on January 23

Longtime rivals Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics will look to sustain their winning momentums as they clash this Thursday at the Crypto.com Arena.

(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

“The Lakers returned to the win column on Tuesday following a 111-88 trashing of the lowly Washington Wizards while the Celtics recorded its second straight win with a victory against the Los Angeles Clippers.”

  • Early Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics betting lines have forward Jayson Tatum and the Celtics as the moderate 5.5-point favorite in this exciting clash versus the Lakers.
  • Los Angeles, however, has been a different beast when playing in front of their adoring fans, going undefeated in their previous three home games.
  • The Lakers have also covered the spread 11 times in 20 home games this season, most notably beating teams by an average margin of 11 points in their past three.

Will the Lakers continue its dominant run at home or will the Celtics spoil the party and draw first blood in their season series?

That remains to be seen but as of press time, here’s how the current Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics odds look like as we head into another thrilling affair between two of the winningest franchises in the league.

Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics DraftKings NBA Odds for January 23

Moneyline

  • Los Angeles Lakers: +180
  • Boston Celtics: -218

Spread

  • Los Angeles Lakers: +5.5 (-110)
  • Boston Celtics: -5.5 (-110)

Over/Under (Total)

  • OVER 223.5 (-110)
  • UNDER 223.5 (-110)

Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Injury Report

Los Angeles Lakers Injury Report

  1. Jarred Vanderbilt – Foot – Out
  2. Jalen Hood-Schifino – Hamstring – Out
  3. Christian Wood – Knee – Out

Boston Celtics Injury Report

  1.  Al Horford – Toe – Questionable
  2. Jrue Holiday – Shoulder – Questionable
  3. Drew Peterson – Concussion – Out

Best NBA odds for Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics

  • The Los Angeles Lakers have beaten teams by an average margin of 11 points in their past three home games. The best Los Angeles Lakers odds for the home team to win outright are available on FanDuel at +190
  • The Boston Celtics have dominated the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five of their previous six meetings. DraftKings has the best odds for the Celtics to cover the spread at -110.
  • Defense has prevailed in three of the past four meetings between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics with the under total hitting thrice. The best Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics odds for the under total are available on DraftKings at -110.

Why will the Los Angeles Lakers cover the spread?

The Los Angeles Lakers returned to its winning ways in style on Tuesday following a 111-86 demolition of the Washington Wizards.

A tough test awaits the Lakers as they take on their bitter rivals, the Boston Celtics next but they will be glad to know that versatile forward Anthony Davis has regained his form after being just limited to 16 markers in their loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

  • The 31-year old Davis was on top form against the Wizards, posting MVP-like numbers of 29 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks while converting 63.6% of his shots from the field.
  • Other than Davis, the Lakers have also gotten massive production from future Hall of Famer LeBron James who continues to defy father time with averages of 24.3 points, 10.3 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in the past four games.
  • Even more remarkable is Los Angeles’ supporting cast that consists of excellent role players such as sharpshooting guard Austin Reaves who recently dropped a career-high 38 points versus the Brooklyn Nets during the team’s current stretch of games.

Should the Lakers continue to get these numbers from Davis, James, Reaves, and company, backing them to cover the spread and sustain its winning run at home is an excellent bet at -110.

One thing we’d like to see the Lakers do more versus the Celtics is force the latter to take jump shots instead of allowing them to operate down low. While Boston is among the highest scoring teams in the league, they actually sit in the middle of the pack in three-point field goal percentage.

If Los Angeles can find a way to tighten its defensive screws and force the Celtics into taking highly-contested shots from the outside, then a unit or two for James and company to cover the spread might be worth a shot.

Why will the Boston Celtics cover the spread?

By their standards, the Boston Celtics have had a rocky start to the year, recording alternating wins and losses since January 5th.

Boston managed to break that trend with a dominant win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday to score its second consecutive victory.

The Celtics will look to make it three in a row for the first time this year as they battle long-time rivals, Los Angeles Lakers next and they might pull it off as current odds suggest.

  • Although both teams are neck-and-neck in the number of league championships won, their past encounters were not even a contest with the Celtics winning five of their last six meetings with the Lakers.
  • Even more impressive is the fashion they’ve done it, having beaten the Lakers by an average margin of 7.6 points.
  • It is also worth noting that the Celtics are among the best teams in the league as far as point differential is concerned, having beaten teams by 9.6 points this season.

Considering their recent head-to-head history and the current run the Celtics are enjoying, backing them to cover the spread versus the Lakers is something worth a shot for punters looking for a betting angle on the favorite.

One thing we’d like to see the Celtics do more here is to get other guys involved besides forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

As evident by their season numbers, Tatum and Brown who average a combined 50.6 points a contest always shows up but having their supporting cast provide the much needed help on both ends of the floor is something the Celtics would want to secure the win.

Final Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics NBA Prediction: Boston Celtics -5.5 (-110)

Tired legs could definitely play a factor for the Boston Celtics as they are playing the second game of a back-to-back and that favors their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers in this thrilling affair.

However, I am going out of a limb here and picking the Celtics to cover the spread and pull off the victory. Of course, this is a low confidence pick considering how the Lakers have been playing at home lately but the value is on the Celtics to cover the -5.5 spread.

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