Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Clippers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 01/22/25

Boston just crushed Golden State by 40 points, they are now in LA to face the Clippers and the oddsmakers have them favored by 9.5 points here. At first glance it sounds a bit too much, considering the defending champs are just 5-4 SU over their last 9 games overall. During this stretch they rank just 14th in offensive rating which is fairly mediocre for a team that spent most of the first two months in the top 3 both on offense and defense. Perhaps the win at Golden State helps turn things around, but winning at LA hasn’t been an easy task for a while now. Boston is only 3-9 SU in their last 12 visits, they’ve covered only twice in 7 meetings overall.

The Clippers opened as 5.5-point underdogs here, but now the spread is up to 9.5 points after the news of Kawhi Leonard being out. Norman Powell and James Harden are also questionable, if they cannot go here then it’s a wrap for the home team. We’ve seen some good things from the Clippers over their last 5 games, but they just lost to Chicago at home 112-99. Ivica Zubac missed that game, his absence was felt on both ends as the Bulls won the rebounding battle 54-40, while also grabbing 17 offensive rebounds. Whether or not Big Zu suits up here remains to be seen.

Without knowing the full extent of the injuries to Powell, Harden and Zubac, it’s really hard to make a judgement on this game. So let’s go with the point total. The over has cashed in 10 of 15 meetings, while the last 10 have seen an average of 225.1 points per game. The first meeting of the season saw 222 points at TD Garden, even with LA scoring just 94. The Celtics will score enough here to carry us over the total.

Celtics vs Clippers Predictions: Over 216.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.