In a battle of two of the most storied franchises in all of professional sports, the Boston Celtics are on the road at the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. The Celtics are coming off an impressive performance on the road at the Clippers on Saturday. The Celtics with the win improved to 22-6 on the season. Boston holds the top record in the Eastern Conference.
For the Lakers, they are coming off a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers are 16-14 on the season, which is 9th in the Western Conference. The win on Saturday snapped a four game losing streak for Los Angeles.
The Lakers are listed as favorites in this game. You can bet the Celtics -1.5 on the road at the Lakers on Christmas Day.
Celtics Looking to Finish Road Trip Strong
For the Celtics, they destroyed the Clippers from start to finish. Playing just 30 minutes, Jayson Tatum scored 30 points. Jrue Holiday added 20 and Jaylen Brown scored 24 in the game. The Celtics scored 68 first half points in the game. Boston is now 8-6 on the road.
On the season, Tatum is scoring right around 27 points per game, and ripping down just under 9 rebounds per game. Kristaps Porzingis has come over for the first season with the Celtics, but has missed 8 of their 28 games so far this season.
The Celtics are finishing their four game road trip with this game. Boston will head back home and take on the Piston and Raptors this week, before hitting the road again to San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
James Leading Lakers Charge
The Lakers saw their star veteran LeBron James have another massive night in the win. He scored 40 points, and recorded 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the win. James is averaging nearly 26 points per game. James will turn 39 years old just before New Years.
Anthony Davis added 26 and Rui Hachimura was strong off the bench with 21 in the game. Davis is at 24 points per game, while Hacimura is at 12 per game. The Lakers used De’Angelo Russell off the bench for the first time in this game, with James moving to point guard.
The Lakers are at home in this game, and will remain home Thursday to take on the Hornets. After that, they will finish 2023 with road games at the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Lakers Beat Celtics in Los Angeles
LeBron James and his teammates had a great time in the in-season tournament. It was fun for them and fun for their fans. But, winning it all made them really tired as well. They are worn out. Now, they need to get back on track.
Look for them in front of a big audience to start playing better against a really good Boston team here. The Lakers are at home, and are going to win this game. When we go to bet on this game, we are going to take the Boston Celtics -1.5 over the Los Angeles Lakers.
