Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Picks and Odds Dec 7

Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Betting Preview

WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang offers his Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics betting preview for Tuesday, December 7. At the time of posting, the Lakers have opened as a 2.5-point home favorite over the visiting Celtics, with the total sitting at 219.5 points.

Stay on top of the latest NBA updates direct from Las Vegas!

Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Predictions

• Los Angeles Lakers -2.5 vs Boston Celtics
• Total: 219.5 Points
• The Lakers are 2-6 against the spread in their last eight games.
• The over is 10-4 in the Lakers’ last 14 games.

The 13-11 Boston Celtics continue a West Coast road trip in Los Angeles against the 12-12 Lakers at Staples Center on Tuesday night. The Lakers are coming off a 118-115 loss as the home team against the Los Angeles Clippers. Meanwhile, the Celtics are coming off a 145-117 beat down of the Trailblazers in Portland. The Celtics won at home in dominant fashion in the first head-to-head meeting with the Lakers by a score of 130-108. The Lakers were at full strength in that game, while the Celtics were without their second best player in Jaylen Brown.

Last season these teams split with both teams winning on the road. Neither team has consistently been at full strength, so it will be interesting to see if they can stay healthy and work their way into form.

The Celtics offense is on fire of late as they have scored over 130 points in the first two games of their five game road trip. Superstar Jayson Tatum has lead the way with an average of 31.3 points over his last three games. On the season Tatum leads his team in both scoring, with 25.2 points a game and rebounding with 8.8 per game. Marcus Smart leads the team in assists with 5.5 per game.

Overall the Celtics score 108.9 points a game ranking them 12th in the league, while allowing 106.5 points a game good for 9th in defensive rating. The Celtics could be without Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Romeo Langford as all three are questionable Tuesday night. Boston will need to step up defensively to slow the big three of the Lakers in order to get the win in Los Angeles.

This iteration of the Los Angeles Lakers isn’t scaring anyone, but they still have plenty of time to figure things out. However, losing to a Clippers team without Kawhi Leonard isn’t a good sign. The Lakers really need to step it up on defense and rebounding. They are 29th in points allowed with 113.4 per game, while ranking a lowly 26th in rebounding.

Lebron James has missed multiple games but leads the team in scoring with 25.6 points a game. Anthony Davis is the team leader in rebounds with 10 per game, while Russell Westbrook leads the team in dimes with 8.6 a game. The Lakers offense is a polar opposite of their defense as they are 4th in scoring with 111.7 points a game.

These teams are complete opposites as the Lakers struggle on defense and score at will, while the Celtics play at a slow pace with solid defense. However the Celtics offense has clicked recently, so predicting an over/under will be near impossible. The Lakers are the worst against the spread team in the league, with a 8-16 record and they are even worse at home with a 4-11 ATS record. The Celtics are 13-11-1 ATS overall, while thriving on the road at 9-4-1. Boston is also a perfect 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games against the Lakers.

The Lakers are favored by 2.5 points with a total of 219.5. The Celtics are in far better form, especially on this current road trip. I’m going to leave the points on the table and make the Celtics +125 money line my official play. Check back to be sure Jaylen Brown is good to go, if he isn’t I would recommend taking the additional points. Amazingly the Lakers allow, the 4th most points, 2nd most rebounds and 3rd most assists to opposing point guards.

Dennis Schroder has had two straight monster efforts with 31 points and 8 assists, as well as 26 points and 3 assists. His last points + assists line was only 23.5 and he absolutely crushed it. This is Schroders first game in Los Angeles since leaving on bad terms, so I think he will have added motivation. We will make his over P+A our official player prop.

Official Play: Boston Celtics ML +125

Official Player Prop: Dennis Schroder Over 23.5 Pts+Asts

Tuesday on WagerTalk Today:
⚽ 10am ET: Stoppage Time
🏒 11am ET: Puck Time
☕ 12pm ET: WagerTalk Today
🏀 1:45pm ET: NCAAB Tip-Off
🏀 4:15pm ET: NBA Tip-Off
🗣️ Evening: NFL Week 14 Panel Vids
📺 YouTube: https://t.co/R6HAcDOwWQ
📺 Twitch: https://t.co/FJVMFm1qti pic.twitter.com/r1oQYkMVZF

— WagerTalk (@WagerTalk) December 7, 2021

Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics from The GoldSheet

Boston HC Ime Udoka has to be worried about G Jaylen Brown’s hamstring, which has him questionable for this one. The Lakers have their own share of iffy contributors, but it appears LeBron (ab strain) and AD (thumb) are probable and only 6th man Carmelo Anthony is really in doubt. First meeting this season was a roundly successful outing for the Celtics, who took a 130-108 victory that included a 70-47 2nd half was borderline humiliating for the Lakers, who couldn’t stop Jayson Tatum (37 pts., 11 rebs.), while the Celt starting backcourt of Marcus Smart and ex-Laker Dennis Schroder combined to make 17 of 27 shots for 43 pts, while collecting 14 rebs. and dishing 12 assists (and Josh Richardson always gives them trouble). Anthony Davis had 31 and Lebron had 23 for LA, but it just wasn’t enough. Celtics have won 3 of last 4 SU and are 6-3 in the last 9 while the Lake Show 4-6 SU L10 and have dropped 6 of their last 8 against the number, playing inadequate defense at times allowing 10 overs in the past 14 games, so favor the dog and the over. Play Boston.

Tuesday’s NBA Stat Sheet

Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Click here to download Tuesday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics contest.

NBA Tip-Off Show

Both New York teams are in the Lone Star State as the Nets travel to Dallas and the Knicks head to San Antonio. Join Joe Raineri, Tony Mejia, Rob Veno and Skee Profit for the NBA Tip-Off Show at 4:15pm ET / 1:15pm PT as we discuss tonight’s marquee games. Stay up-to-date on the latest NBA news, stats, analysis, and predictions with our panel of professional handicappers as they preview tonight’s NBA action, including this Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics clash, from a betting perspective.

WagerTalk Live Odds Screen

WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the NBA point spreads, moneylines, first half lines and betting percentages for all of Tuesday’s NBA games, including this Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics showdown, from your desktop or phone.

**************************************************

Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?

• Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
• Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
• Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.

Make sure to bookmark all the above!