Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Celtics 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Shooting guard Kobe Bryant will lead the Los Angeles Lakers on the road to the TD Garden to take on Forward Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics in a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals on Thursday night at 8:00 PM ET on TNT Sports. The Lakers have struggled to beat the top teams this season after a hot start and enter the game on a 2 game win streak at 36-16 1st in the Pacific. The Celtics lost game seven of the Finals at the Staples Center in LA but won their at the end of last month and are looking to make a statement by sweeping the Lakers with a win at home and come in off a loss at 38-13 1st in the Atlantic looking for the home court advantage in the playoffs.
“If we had home court last year, who knows maybe what happens in Game 7?” Pierce said. “We’re not looking ahead, but maybe if it comes down to another Game 7, maybe we’ll have it at home.” The Lakers know it’s tough to go to Boston and win. “We’re going to have to be really physical, really solid, really aggressive in order to be successful in Boston,” Pau Gasol told the Lakers’ official website. The odds makers at Bodog have the Boston Celtics a -2 1/2 point favorite at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers are coming off a victory 93-84 on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies to move to 23-29 ATS for the season. Bryant led 6 Lakers with double figure points scoring 19 with 7 boards and 6 assists while Gasol scored 17 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Forward Lamar Odom came off the bench to add 15 points and 11 rebounds. Vegas odds makers have the Los Angeles Lakers +300 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Celtics are coming off a road loss 94-89 against the Charlotte Bobcats to move to 24-25-2 ATS for the season. Shooting Guard Ray Allen led the Celtics with 25 points while Pierce added 22 points 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Point guard Rajon Rondo added 10 points and continued his assault on leading the lead in assists with 14 dimes. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 5 games when playing at home against LA Lakers. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 187 1/2 points combined of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.
I predict a Laker upset win on the road!