The most storied rivalry in NBA history is renewed as the Los Angeles Lakers host the Boston Celtics for their second and final meeting of the season.
LeBron James and the Lakers will be out for revenge after getting blown out by Boston in their first matchup. However, the Lakers still have their problems to sort out while Jayson Tatum and the Celtics have been showing steady progress in recent games.
Elsewhere, Kevin Durant will lead his Brooklyn Nets to Dallas to take on the Mavericks, who could be without their top two stars, while the struggling New York Knicks visit the San Antonio Spurs.
Read on as SBOTOP previews all three games on the NBA schedule in great detail.
Brooklyn Nets @ Dallas Mavericks
The East-leading Brooklyn Nets suffered a tough 111-107 loss to the rampaging Chicago Bulls last time out as they fell to 2-2 on their recent four-game home stand.
Kevin Durant had 28 points to lead the Nets and LaMarcus Aldridge added 20. However, James Harden had a rough game, scoring just 14 points on 5-of-21 shooting.
After showing signs of improvement, Harden is back in a bit of a slump. He’s shooting a mere 36 per cent from the field over his last six games and 23 per cent on 3-pointers.
However, Harden and the Nets have a great chance to bounce back against the Dallas Mavericks, who have lost four of their last five games, with all four losses coming at home.
The Mavs were without their two big stars – Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis – in their last game against the Memphis Grizzlies, which they lost, 97-90. Doncic was nursing a sore ankle, while Porzingis has been dealing with a knee injury.
The latest NBA 2021 updates suggest they may miss their matchup against the Nets as well. If they are absent yet again, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Brunson will continue to lead the Mavs’ attack. Hardaway led the team with 29 points off the bench in the loss to the Grizzlies. Brunson added 15 points but went just 7 for 21 from the field.
Betting Tip: Brooklyn Nets Asian Handicap -2.5 @ 1.88
New York Knicks @ San Antonio Spurs
The New York Knicks’ struggles continue. They lost by 14 points at home to the short-handed Denver Nuggets, their third straight defeat and fourth in their last five.
Coach Tom Thibodeau has already taken veteran point guard Kemba Walker out of the starting lineup – and the rotation entirely – as he looks for a solution to the Knicks’ problems, but that change has not been able to fix their woes thus far.
RJ Barrett, who was one of the breakout stars of last season, is still struggling mightily. The 21-year-old is averaging just 11 points on a woeful 36 per cent shooting over his last nine games.
The Knicks must now pay a visit to the Spurs, who saw their four-game losing streak come to an end last night against the sensational Phoenix Suns. Still, they almost defied the NBA 2021 odds as they gave the Suns all they could handle, but they eventually succumbed to a 108-104 defeat.
Dejounte Murray continued his All-Star level play with 17 points and 14 assists. The 25-year-old point guard is averaging nearly 20 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and nearly 2 steals in his last 10 games.
Betting Tip: New York Knicks Asian Handicap -2.50 @ 2.00
Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers
The Celtics are starting to put things together after an uneven start to the season. They are coming off one of their most impressive wins of the season as they blew out the Trail Blazers 145-117 in Portland.
Jayson Tatum had another big game with 31 points and 10 rebounds. The All Star-forward is finally finding some consistency after a rough start. He is averaging 31 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 48 per cent from the field in his first three games of December.
The Celtics are still missing their other All-Star forward, Jaylen Brown, who is questionable to play in LA due to a lingering hamstring injury. Thankfully, guards Dennis Schroder and Marcus Smart are stepping up to take on more offensive responsibility in Brown’s absence.
Schroder and Smart combined for 43 points in the Celtics’ win over the Lakers in November, which was also without Brown. Meanwhile, Tatum led the way with 37 points and 11 rebounds.
As for the Lakers, they are still struggling to find much consistency. They lost to the Clippers, which snapped their two-game winning streak and bumped them back down to .500 at 12-12.
The Lakers are now just 4-6 in their last 10 games, with all four of their wins coming against teams with losing records.
LeBron James returned from his brief Covid absence against the Clippers and was understandably rusty. He had just 23 points on 9-of-23 shooting. He had scored 30 or more points in his last three games.
Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook also had a quiet game against the Clippers with just 10 points, snapping his streak of six straight games with 20 or more points.
Betting Tip: Boston Celtics Asian Handicap +2.50 @ 2.02
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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