Who’s Playing
Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Clippers
Current Records: Boston 21-6, Los Angeles 17-11
How To Watch
- When: Saturday, December 23, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles, California
- TV: Bally Sports SoCal
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $60.00
What to Know
The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers will face off at 3:30 p.m. ET on December 23rd at Crypto.com Arena without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Coming in fresh off a win as the underdog, the Celtics will stroll into this one as the favorite.
The Kings typically have all the answers at home, but on Wednesday the Celtics proved too difficult a challenge. They put the hurt on the Kings with a sharp 144-119 victory. With that win, the Celtics brought their scoring average up to 118.9 points per game.
The Celtics’ win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Derrick White, who went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 28 points and 7 assists. White is on a roll when it comes to blocks, as he’s now posted two or more in the last three games he’s played. Jrue Holiday was another key contributor, shooting 4-for-6 from deep and dropping a double-double on 21 points and ten assists.
Meanwhile, after a string of nine wins, the Clippers’ good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They ended up on the wrong side of a painful 134-115 walloping at the hands of Oklahoma City. The Clippers found out winning isn’t easy when you don’t work as a unit and post 12 fewer assists than your opponent.
Despite the defeat, the Clippers had strong showings from James Harden, who scored 23 points along with nine rebounds and six assists, and Paul George, who scored 22 points.
Boston is on a roll lately: they’ve won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 21-6 record this season. As for Los Angeles, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 17-11.
Saturday’s game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: The Celtics haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 12.7 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like the Clippers struggle in that department as they’ve been averaging only 12.5 turnovers per game. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
The Celtics didn’t have too much breathing room in their game against the Clippers in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, but they still walked away with a 116-110 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Celtics since the team won’t have the home-court advantage this time around. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Odds
Boston is a slight 1.5-point favorite against Los Angeles, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 1.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is set at 231.5 points.
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Series History
Los Angeles has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Boston.
- Dec 29, 2022 – Boston 116 vs. Los Angeles 110
- Dec 12, 2022 – Los Angeles 113 vs. Boston 93
- Dec 29, 2021 – Los Angeles 91 vs. Boston 82
- Dec 08, 2021 – Los Angeles 114 vs. Boston 111
- Mar 02, 2021 – Boston 117 vs. Los Angeles 112
- Feb 05, 2021 – Boston 119 vs. Los Angeles 115
- Feb 13, 2020 – Boston 141 vs. Los Angeles 133
- Nov 20, 2019 – Los Angeles 107 vs. Boston 104
- Mar 11, 2019 – Los Angeles 140 vs. Boston 115
- Feb 09, 2019 – Los Angeles 123 vs. Boston 112
