Filip Tomic
It is one of the most highly anticipated regular season games this year as the LA Lakers battle the Boston Celtics tonight on ABC. I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay bet priced at +494 odds. For predictions on the side and total on Saturday’s slate head over to our NBA Picks page, but now let’s dive into my Lakers vs Celtics SGP!
BOS Celtics -7 (-108)
Kristaps Porzingis to Score 20+ Points (+106)
Luka Doncic to Record 8+ Assists (-142)
Same Game Parlay odds: +494
Celtics -7 (-108)
No team has had better defensive numbers than the Lakers have over the past 20 games, but all that goes out the window as they face the defending champions Celtics. The Cs have marked this game on their calendars a while ago, as they look to get revenge for the double-digit loss suffered in LA in the first meeting of the season. In their win against Philadelphia they opted to rest most of their regular players from the rotation, with only Jayson Tatum playing significant minutes. They still won by 18 points for their 3rd win in a row, with a full team at their disposal you have to like the Cs chances here. The Lakers have mostly relied on guarding the perimeter during this impressive run, but against a Boston team that leads the NBA in threes made and attempted per game, you have to wonder if the defense will hold up. Boston has covered in 8 of 11 games, winning 9 of those. They’re 5-1 ATS in 6 at home and have won 4 of 5 vs Western Conference opponents. We also shouldn’t underestimate the fact that the Lakers had to travel from LA ahead of this game, while the Celtics have been at home the entire month of March. I’ll go with Boston to cover here.
Kristaps Porzingis to score 20+ points (+106)
Although in general the Lakers have a tall roster, this is one of the games where we will finally see how they’ll struggle defending the opposing center. Kristaps Porzingis is one of the most versatile players at this position, with the ability to tower over opponents down low, but also being able to step outside and knock the three-ball at a consistent rate. He’s averaging 22.4 points per game against the Lakers in the last 8 meetings, clearing this line 6 times. And these numbers are from the time when the Lakers still had the length of Anthony Davis down low, which is no longer the case. With all due respect to Jaxson Hayes, I’m afraid he simply doesn’t have the capacity to stay in front of KP here. The NBA’s best 3rd option on a team will fill up the Lakers.
Luka Doncic to record 8+ assists (-142)
Doncic returns to the building where he lost the NBA finals last summer as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. This alone will be a motivating factor for him to do well here, but even if that wasn’t the case the recent level of play displayed by Doncic gives me optimism he can have a solid offensive output here. The Lakers are well aware that if they are to go on a deep run in the postseason that the ball has to spend the majority of the time on offense in Luka’s hands. After a somewhat slowish start with his new team, Doncic has come into his own over the last 3 games averaging 30.3 points and 12 assists per game, clearing this line with ease against the Knicks, Pelicans and Clippers. During the Finals last summer he averaged 11 assists per game in the 3 games at TD Garden, however his Mavs lost the series in convincing fashion. We all know Luka can score 30 whenever he wants, but if the Lakers really want to have a chance in this game he will have to get everyone involved. Let’s back him to get at least 8 assists.
