3rd Quarter Report

The Lakers are giving their home crowd exactly what they were hoping for. They have a bit of a cushion as they currently lead the Celtics 83-68.

If the Lakers keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 24-18 in no time. On the other hand, the Celtics will have to make due with a 31-14 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who’s Playing

Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers

Current Records: Boston 31-13, Los Angeles 23-18

How To Watch

What to Know

Having just played yesterday, the Boston Celtics will head out on the road to face off against the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers have the home-court advantage, but the Celtics are expected to win by five points.

On Wednesday, the Celtics needed a bit of extra time to put away the Clippers. They managed a 117-113 victory over Los Angeles. The win made it back-to-back victories for Boston.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led the Lakers over the Wizards in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Everything went the Lakers’ way against the Wizards as the Lakers made off with a 111-88 win. That 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 is 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 were working as a unit and finished the game with 30 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as the Wizards only posted 25.

Boston has been performing well recently as they’ve 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 victory, which was their third straight at home.

The Celtics came up short against the Lakers in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 114-105. Can the Celtics avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.

Odds

Boston is a 5-point favorite against Los Angeles, according to the latest NBA odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 5-point spread, and stayed right there.

The over/under is 219.5 points.

See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Boston has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Los Angeles.

• Feb 01, 2024 – Los Angeles 114 vs. Boston 105
• Dec 25, 2023 – Boston 126 vs. Los Angeles 115
• Jan 28, 2023 – Boston 125 vs. Los Angeles 121
• Dec 13, 2022 – Boston 122 vs. Los Angeles 118
• Dec 07, 2021 – Los Angeles 117 vs. Boston 102
• Nov 19, 2021 – Boston 130 vs. Los Angeles 108
• Apr 15, 2021 – Boston 121 vs. Los Angeles 113
• Jan 30, 2021 – Los Angeles 96 vs. Boston 95
• Feb 23, 2020 – Los Angeles 114 vs. Boston 112
• Jan 20, 2020 – Boston 139 vs. Los Angeles 107