The historic rivalry is renewed when the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics meet on Saturday night.
The pregame narrative: The Lakers are climbing up the Western Conference standings since trading for Luka Doncic. I’m backing the Slovenian Superstar in this +375 SGP that also includes picks on Jayson Tatum and the Los Angeles against the spread.
Check out my Lakers vs. Celtics SGP predictions for March 8.
Lakers vs. Celtics predictions
Parlay: Lakers +7.5 | Doncic to record a double-double | Tatum 25+ points (+375)
Lakers +7.5 (-157): Since Doncic’s debut, the Lakers are 9-2 and beating quality opponents like the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers (twice), Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets.
Things won’t be any easier on the road against the Celtics who own a 45-18 record. But they are worse at home (21-11) than on the road (24-7).
That should provide the Lakers a nice opportunity to sneak in and steal a win to extend their eight-game win streak.
Even if they fall short, I predict a close contest between legendary franchises.
NBA SGP legs
Doncic to record a double-double (-139): After a slow start to life in L.A., Doncic appears to be back in shape and he’s stuffing the stat sheet.
Over the past three games, he’s averaging 30.3 points, 12.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game.
That includes consecutive double-doubles against the New York Knicks and New Orleans Pelicans.
Last season, Doncic averaged nearly a triple-double, leading the league in scoring (33.9 PPG) and tallying 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds per game.
He looks healthy again and extremely motivated. That is a scary combo for a player of Doncic’s talent level.
Tatum 25+ points (-177): He started the year looking like an MVP candidate but slowed down considerably throughout the middle portion of the season.
Things certainly ramped back recently, though, as Tatum has been putting up these numbers since Feb. 1:
- 36.6 minutes/game
- 27.7 points/game
- 25+ points in 8/13 games
Tatum fell short of this total in his last two meetings with the Lakers but scored 25 or more in five straight before that.
I’m looking for the Celtics’ best player to take over in a tough matchup vs. the Lakers.
Lakers vs. Celtics predictions made at 1:46 p.m. ET on 03/08/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.