The Clippers return home after a six-game Eastern Conference road swing after losing to Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving last time out. It won’t be easy though with Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics looking to take down another Western Conference foe after going into Golden State and ousting the Warriors to kick off a five-game road trip of their own. These teams played to a pair of epic skirmishes a season ago. The Clippers logged the 107-104 win and non-cover as 7.5-point home favorites, while the Celtics earned the series split taking LA down 141-133 in overtime back in Beantown. LA has come out on top seven of the last eight times it hosted Boston, but only managed a split against the spread at online sportsbooks. Total bettors saw the under cash in at a 4-3-1 clip in those matchups.
Tip off is on Friday, February 5, 2021 at 10 p.m. ET from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA and aired on ESPN.
Boston Celtics vs Clippers Odds
Boston Celtics (click here)
Los Angeles Clippers (click here)
Over/Under (click here)
Tatum is back in the Celtics starting lineup. The Celtics are a single basket away from being 4-0 both straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS). The team just went into the Chase Center and handed the Warriors their fifth home loss of the season. In doing so, Brad Stevens’ troops clawed over the breakeven point on the road at 6-5 SU and 5-6 ATS with a stop in Sacramento scheduled before hitting the Staples Center hardwood on Friday night. Los Angeles will attempt to bounce back from that loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday night in Cleveland before returning home for the first time since January 24. Since taking losses in two of its first four home games, the Clippers have rattled off six straight wins in front of their home based cardboard cutouts splitting the six games against the closing NBA odds. In all, LA checks in 8-3 SU and 5-5 ATS as a host with the over coming in six times and an average of 222.8 points scored.
Boston Celtics
After the first quarter, which led to Golden State getting out to a commanding 35-24 lead to put the UNDER bettors on alert, the Celtics defense settled down the remainder of the game to help reel in a much-needed win to kick start the road trip. Jayson Tatum continued his scorching hot ways leading the Celtics with 27 points on 9 of 19 shooting and came a rebound short of logging a double-double. Four others chipped in with double-digits, but it was a rough shooting night for Jaylen Brown who failed to surpass his 24.5 point player prop by way of connecting on just one of six 3-point attempts. Boston took advantage of James Wiseman’s absence to dominate the battle of the boards (51-36), yet still needed to seal the deal at the charity stripe late for those that laid the 2.5-points. The combined 218 points failed to surpass the 228 closing total.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers started as 1 point underdogs versus New Jersey for Tuesday night’s match. The betting public jumped on Kawhi Leonard turning the Clippers into 1.5-point favorites at the close. Even after putting forth a solid first quarter in which the team led 32-24, it never truly felt like Los Angeles was ultimately going to come through for its wagering supporters. In the end, they didn’t as Brooklyn’s trio went on to combine for 73 percent of the Nets’ points. The Clippers entered the match owning by far the better of the two defenses on paper, but allowed the Nets to tickle the twine at a flaming 57 percent clip which included an absurd 13 of 31 showing from beyond the arc. Even after winning the rebounding battle and forcing a whopping 16 Nets turnovers, it still wasn’t enough as the team fell 124-120 and allowed Brooklyn to register 30+ points in all but the first quarter.
Boston vs Clippers Prediction
Our pick: Boston Celtics to win
Whether it was being on the road for an extended period or something else, there’s something up with the Clippers. Regardless, they didn’t look like a potential title winner on Tuesday night. While I understand defending Brooklyn’s big three is daunting, the Clippers simply didn’t have a clue on how to stop them. Kawhi is still a man amongst boys, but I also had an issue with the offense’s inability to run a fluid attack. That ultimately stems from the team’s lack of a dominant point guard. While I’d be more confident with Boston in this matchup had Marcus Smart been able to suit up for it, I still think they’re in better form with one of the league’s risers really starting to come into his own in Tatum. With its best win of the season coming all the way back on opening night when it beat Giannis and the Bucks by a single point, I expect the Celtics to go all-out to snag the dub in this potential NBA Finals showdown.
