Championship Rematch Headlines NBA Thursday

With their home court preparing to host the Grammys and the NBA All-Star Game the Los Angeles Lakers are doing the hotel circuit through parts of the Eastern Conference. And as part of that seven-game trip the defending champs are in Boston on Thursday night for a championship series rematch with the Celtics (8 pm Eastern, TNT).

Also Thursday Western Conference playoff hopefuls meet when the Golden State Warriors visit the Phoenix Suns (9 pm Eastern). And the Dallas Mavericks are in Mile High City to take on the Denver Nuggets (10:30 pm Eastern, TNT).

The Lakers are going to win the Pacific Division again, but in going 6-5 over their last 11 games (through Monday) they've fallen seven games behind conference-leading San Antonio in the West. LA also ranks near the bottom of oddsmaker.ag's ATS standings at 23-28, despite ranking fourth in the league in point differential at +6.7 PG.

Boston lost at Charlotte on Monday night 94-89 and is only 3-3 over its last six games. So the Celtics cling to a one-game lead over second-place Miami in the East standings.

These two teams just met two Sundays ago out in LA, with Boston coming away with a 109-96 victory. The Celtics shot a scorching 60% from the floor that day, and held the Lakers to 44% shooting. Kobe Bryant went 16-for-29, but the rest of the team shot just 20-for-52.

Boston is 23-4 straight-up at the new Garden this season, but only 11-14 vs. the oddsmaker.ag pointspreads. LA, meanwhile, is 17-8 SU on the road this season, 13-11 ATS.

After winning 26 games and missing the playoffs for the third straight season last year, the Warriors have already won 22 games this season. And they only trail Portland, the current eight seed in the West, by five games, with 30 to go.

Golden State leads the league in 3-point marksmanship, hitting 39.5% from long range. But the Warriors still have trouble at the other end of the court, ranking 24th in FG defense and 3rd-worst in rebounding at -4 PG.

Golden State has only won six road games outright this season, but they're a very respectable 12-10 vs. the oddsmaker.ag numbers away from home.

Phoenix, meanwhile, has won four of its last five to get back to within a game of .500, but they're still 2.5 games out of that eight spot in the West. And while the Suns continue to shoot the ball well and score points, they rank dead last in rebounding at -4.3 PG.

Phoenix has already beaten the Warriors twice this season, 107-101 back in early December and 104-92 Monday night, both games in Oakland.

Dallas started 24-5 this season, then stumbled through a 3-10 stretch, as they lost both Caron Butler (for the season) and Dirk Nowitzki (for two weeks). But the Mavs held off hapless Cleveland on Monday night to extend their current winning streak to nine games. Dallas is also a solid 16-7 SU and 15-8 ATS on the road this season.

Denver, meanwhile, amidst continuous trade rumors, has lost four of its last six games as it tries to hold on to the seven spot in the West.