Free Picks: Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Though it seems unlikely, on Saturday we will see the 14-6 Los Angeles Lakers taking on the 10-7 Boston Celtics at TD Garden with both squads coming off of losses. The formerly NBA-leading Lakers have actually lost two straight and will be looking to stop the boat from rocking too much here. Boston will also be looking to get back in the win column after a tough loss to the San Antonio Spurs last time out.

Some will say that L.A.’s embarrassing 107-92 loss to the five-win Detroit Pistons can be attributed to the absence of Anthony Davis, who was out to rest a quad bruise, but that’s not entirely true. The Lakers went back and forth all night, failing to stop one of the worst teams in the NBA at any critical junctures to create space between them, eventually faltering in the fourth quarter, which they lost 25-14.

LeBron James did play in that game, and though he seemed pretty apathetic by the end of it, he still shot decently well and scored 22 points in 36 minutes. His fingerprints were all over the game, both with the positives on offense as well as the negative stretches on the defensive end, which were pretty ugly at times. Davis is not only the second-best (perhaps best) offensive player for the Lakers, he’s also their defensive anchor.

There’s no reason to think the Brow won’t be back in action for one of the best rivalry games in basketball in Celtics-Lakers at the TD Garden. With the quality of both of these teams, the talent on both sides, and considering how deep both squads went in last year’s postseason, this matchup has ‘Legacy Game’ written all over it, so don’t expect the King or the Brow to be taking too many plays off.

While the Lakers are still listing Davis as questionable for the game they’ve done that for nearly every one this season, and the 27-year-old has only missed a trio of contests so far. Even if Davis does sit out again, which seems highly unlikely, we still like LeBron to will his team to a triumph, so we’re going to confidently take the Lakers  -1 on an NBA point spread play at -112 odds (22Bet).

Davis went on a bit of a cold streak earlier this month, failing to top 20 points in four straight contests, but he’s topped that mark in two of his last three outings and is looking at a tasty matchup on Saturday night. The Brow scores 12.1 of his 21.9 points per game in the paint with his brilliant arsenal of post moves, and the Celtics have yet to find an answer under the rim, allowing the 12th-most points in the painted area (47.2) as they roll out pylons like Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson at the five.

Davis has always relished playing against Boston, putting up 27.3 points per game in his career versus the C’s, the fourth-highest mark for the Brow against any opponent. If Davis does indeed play, the over on his points prop, which is likely to sit around 21 to 22 points is one of our top picks of the night. If the Brow surprisingly sits out again, smash the over on LeBron’s points prop, which will likely sit around 27 or 28 points.

• Boston has gone 2-4 ATS following losses this season
• Boston is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 against teams who have won 60% of their games
• Los Angeles is 4-1 SU following losses this season
• Anthony Davis has averaged 27.3 points per game against Boston in his career