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Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics Pick and Preview

Los Angeles Lakers (38-9) at Boston Celtics (40-9) – Thursday, Feb. 5 - 8 p.m. Eastern - TNT

This season's second rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals will feature a short-handed Los Angeles Lakers team against the Boston Celtics.

Los Angeles plays at Boston Thursday, and the Lakers will be without center Andrew Bynum, who will be out eight to 12 weeks with a torn MCL in his right knee. Bynum was injured in the first quarter of the Lakers' 115-98 win at Memphis Saturday.

This Lakers-Celtics game will match the top two teams in each conference. After Monday's games, Los Angeles was 5 games clear of San Antonio in the Western Conference, while Boston held a 1.5 game lead over Cleveland in the Eastern Conference.

Season Results - In the first Lakers-Celtics meeting this season on Christmas Day in Los Angeles, the Lakers, as a 2-point favorite, broke a 19-game Celtics winning streak with a 92-83 win. Bynum had nine points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes in the first meeting. That was the first Lakers-Celtics meeting since Boston defeated Los Angeles 4-games-to-2 in last season's NBA Finals.

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Bynum had led Los Angeles in rebounding for five straight games before the Memphis game. He also led the Lakers in scoring in three different games in the month of January, so Los Angeles figures to miss him quite a bit.

In their first full game without Bynum, the Lakers ran past the New York Knicks Monday in Madison Square Garden, 126-117. Kobe Bryant poured in 61 points, while Pau Gasol had 31 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers.

After losing at Los Angeles Dec. 25, Boston went into a tailspin, winning only twice in a nine-game stretch. However, since Jan. 11, Boston has won 11 straight games heading into a Tuesday trip to Philadelphia. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has won seven of its last eight games, heading into Wednesday's game at Toronto.

Boston has shown great balance during its win streak. Five different players have led the Celtics in scoring in a game during the win streak, while six different players have led the team in rebounding during the past 11 games.

West Vs. East - In January, Boston was 3-1 against the Western Conference, only losing a home game to Houston. In games against Eastern Conference teams in January, meanwhile, the Lakers were 4-2, losing home games to Charlotte and Orlando. Los Angeles has made two multiple-game trips to play Eastern teams this season, going 0-2 in late December and 2-1 in early December.

In the second game when playing back-to-back nights on the road this season, the Lakers are 5-2, having won at Memphis (115-98), lost at San Antonio (112-111), won at Golden State (114-106), won at New Orleans (100-87), lost at Orlando (106-103), won at Philadelphia (114-102), and won at New Orleans (93-86). The Lakers are 5-2 ATS in those games.

Boston, meanwhile, is 3-1 when playing a home game as the second of back-to-back games. The Celtics defeated Toronto (115-109 in overtime), lost to Houston (89-85), defeated New Orleans (94-82), and defeated Toronto (94-87). The Celtics are 1-3 ATS in those games.

With Monday's win against the Knicks, Los Angeles has won five of its last six games ATS. Boston, meanwhile, enters Wednesday's game at Philadelphia having won eight of its last nine games ATS.

Los Angeles was 0-4 outright and ATS in Boston last season.
--Celtics (-4) 131, Lakers 92 --Celtics (+1.5) 108, Lakers 102 --Celtics (-3) 98, Lakers 88 --Celtics (-8) 107, Lakers 94