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The Boston Celtics travel to Space City to take on the Houston Rockets on Thursday night at the Toyota Center.
These teams are coming off huge Christmas Day wins at their home floor. The Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 121-114 in overtime at the TD Garden while the Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-109 in two of the five games featured on Christmas Day.
Kyrie Comes Through In The Clutch
The Boston Celtics enter this matchup on a two-game winning streak. In their last outing against the Philadelphia 76ers, Kyrie Irving came through in the clutch and delivered the goods for the Celtics. Irving sent the game to overtime with a fadeaway basket over Jimmy Butler with 20 second left in regulation and then he drilled back to back three pointers in the overtime period to give the Celtics the lead for good.
Boston ranks 12th in team scoring at 116.1 points per game and are 9th in the league in passing with their 25.1 assists per game average. The Celtics are 4th in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 104.0 points per game this season. The men in green also rank 10th off the glass with 46.1 total rebounds per game collected.
Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets 12/27/18
Moneyline Odds: Celtics +105, Rockets -125
Odds from getbets.eu as of 12/27/18
Harden Scores 41 On Christmas Day
While Kyrie scored 40 for the Celtics on Christmas Day, James Harden poured in 41 points for the Rockets on the same night. Harden, wearing grinch green shoes, stole the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Christmas with an offensive explosion in Houston. It was Harden’s 7th straight game with at least 30 points, marking the first time a player has accomplished that feat since Russell Westbrook in November 2016. Harden’s 41 points was also the second highest point output of any active player.
Houston is 19th in the NBA in team scoring at 109.3 points per game. The Rockets rank 27th in assists at 21.3 points per game and are also just 26th in the entire league in board work with an average of 41.7 rebounds per game. The Rockets though are 11th in scoring defense, allowing their foes to score only 108.5 points per game this season.
Who Wins?
The Celtics and Rockets have played in a total of 141 regular season games. Boston leads their all-time series 90-51. These teams have split their last six meetings at three games apiece with each team going 2-1 in their home floor. Houston won their most recent meeting last March 3, 2018 with the score of 123-120 in Houston.
Both teams were among the favorites to win the title at the start of the season. Both teams struggled at the start of the season and both teams look like they’re beginning to find their true form at this time of the year. The difference between these teams though is that while Boston has everyone healthy, the Rockets are without Chris Paul at least for a couple of weeks due to injury. No matter how good they are playing, when a game of this magnitude is at hand, every team will need its starts to come through. Harden was able to do that by himself against the Thunder on Christmas Day. But remember that Kyrie Irving also delivered a huge performance on December 25th. In my opinion, Harden and Paul will offset each other here, leaving the Celtics’ deeper roster with the edge over a Houston team that’s lost its depth in free agency and missing Chris Paul due to injury
Both teams made a statement on Christmas Day but I think the Celtics have the edge here with Houston missing CP3. It’s going to be a good, close game but the deeper team takes this.
We’re picking the Boston Celtics to beat the Houston Rockets on 12/27/18.
Other Bets To Make
The Celtics are 17-16 ATS in 33 games played this season. Boston is 7-10 ATS in 17 games played on the road. The Rockets are 15-17-1 ATS on the season. Houston is 9-6-1 ATS in 16 home games played this season. Head to head, Boston is 6-4 ATS in their last 10 meetings. The Celtics are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 meetings in Houston.
Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets 12/27/18
Spread Odds: Celtics +1.5 (-109), Rockets -1.5 (-109)
Odds from getbets.eu as of 12/27/18
Boston is 8-1 ATS in their last nine games following an ATS win in their previous game and also 8-1 in their last 9 games while playing one one-day rest. The Celtics are also 4-1 ATS in their last five Thursday games and 4-0 ATS in their last four meetings against the Rockets. Houston is just 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against the East and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against Atlantic Division teams.
Prediction: Celtics +1.5
The total has gone over in 20 out of the 33 games played by the Celtics this season. The over is also 10-7 in Boston’s 17 road games played this season. On the other hand, the over is 17-15-1 in the Rockets’ 33 games played this season. Houston has seen the over go 9-6-1 in their 16 home games played so far this season. Head to head, the under is 8-1-1 in their last 10 meetings. The under is also 8-2 in their last 10 meetings in Houston.
Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets 12/27/18
Over/Under Odds: Over 216.5, Under 216.5
Odds from gtbets.eu as of 12/27/18
Both these teams are loaded with scorers and have been offensive powerhouses in the past but their struggles this season have placed them in the middle of the pack in scoring. The difference here should be Boston being one of the top defensive teams in the league. The Celtics should dictate the pace of this game with their defense with the Rockets trying to outplay them with offense. The under is 7-1 in their last 8 meetings.
Prediction: Under 216.5
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