Hollywood Spotlight: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers Pro Basketball Picks

Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers
Sunday, 1/30/11, 3:30 PM EDT, TV: ABC
Opening Point Spread: Los Angeles -3
Current Betting Line: Los Angeles -2.5
Opening Total: 186
Current Total: 183.5

The Los Angeles Lakers are small home favorites in hosting the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon at Staples Center

Boston enters Sunday’s contest leading the Eastern Conference with a solid 35-11 record, but will need to be much better than its 88-71 losing performance on the road against Phoenix last time out to pull off an underdog win. “We just didn’t have it tonight,” said point guard Rajon Rondo. “Nobody played well at all and it starts with me.” The Celtics are 13-8 overall on the road this season, including just a 3-2 mark against Western Conference competition. The two teams split two meetings in the regular season during the 2009-10 campaign and of course met up for a thrilling seven-game series in the finals, which the Celtics ultimately dropped. Boston is 32-22 ATS as an underdog over the last three years and currently getting points on the NBA lines page.

The Celtics are currently shooting a league-high 49.9 percent as a team and are the only squad in the league close to 50 percent on the season. The second ranked team to Boston in the category happens to be Phoenix, who is shooting 47.2 percent from the field. Leading the offensive charge during the month of January is guard Ray Allen, who is knocking down 52.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Coach Doc Rivers is surprised that not one of his players was chosen to represent the Eastern Conference as a starter in the All-Star Game, considering the shooting numbers his team possesses and its overall record. “To look at our record and to have no starters is surprising,” he commented. “But not really, because we’re such a team.”

Los Angeles is coming off an embarrassing 100-95 home loss to Sacramento on Friday night, a performance that will cause many fans to have an uneasy feeling entering the Staples Center. “We’ve had some tough losses that kind of jump out at you, but it’s just about being more consistent,” said Kobe Bryant. “We’re right where we need to be.” The Lakers are comfortably in second place in the Western Conference with a 33-14 record and will look to improve their record to 16-4 against foes from the East. Los Angeles has garnered a 10-4 record during the month and is 6-4 on Sundays this season. The team is 5-7 ATS off an upset loss as a favorite during the 2010-11 campaign.

The Lakers have a losing 120-152 record against the Celtics in the all-time series and the mark was a topic of conversation this week due to the rumors of Boston forward Kevin Garnett creating a shoe with the numbers represented. Los Angeles is 6-4 against Boston in the last 10 regular season meetings and it’s important to note that Bryant will be meeting Shaquille O’Neal on the court this afternoon. In Bryant and O’Neal’s 10 career head-to-head meetings, the Lakers All-Star guard is averaging 34.4 points, while O’Neal checks in with an 18.4-point average.