The likely competition to dethrone the three-time defending champions in their respective conferences, the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics will meet for the first time on Thursday. Boston owned the NBA’s best record for a good portion of the season thanks to their 16-game winning streak, but things have settled down for the Celtics, who split their last 10 games as they try to hold off the Cavs and Raptors. Houston dropped consecutive games to the LA teams despite getting 51 points from James Harden in each contest.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from TD Garden at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 28, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on TNT. We’ll have NBA opening odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Thursday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Both teams have been in a tailspin lately but they remain at the top of their conference. The Celtics have been just a .500 team over the last two weeks and are just 5-9-1 ATS over their previous 15. They remain, however, the best bet in the league with an overall ATS mark of 22-12-2 and 10-6-2 at the Garden. They’ve also cashed the over seven times in their past 10 homes games and we could see plenty of points in this one. At 12-1, the Rockets are the best road team in the league and could have some horses back on the floor to help increase their chances of covering the expected small line.
Scheduling Situation
The Celtics ended a two-game slide by knocking off the Bulls on Saturday and finish up a stretch of three games in four nights with the second of a back-to-back when they host the Rockets. Boston has played the most games in the NBA and won’t get a break in their schedule until after the first week in January and they’re trying to weather the storm in the process.
They’ve gone just 5-5 over their last 10 games with losses to Chicago, Utah, Miami and New York, teams that haven’t exactly torn it up over the first part of the year. We certainly didn’t expect Boston to play as well as they did when jumping out to a 22-4 record, but their current play has been kind of alarming. The Cs play in Charlotte on Wednesday before hosting the Rockets and are 3-3 SU and 2-4 ATS in the second of back to back games this season.
Player to Watch
Last year’s MVP runner-up is playing with a chip on his shoulder this season and the Rockets have benefitted from the inspired play of James Harden. Even when Houston loses, Harden grabs the headlines. He tallied 51 points in back-to-back games, but the Rockets lost both, having their 14-game winning streak snapped by the Lakers before bowing to the Clippers two nights later. Harden has topped the 50-point mark three times already this season and leads the NBA in scoring at over 32 points per night.
The individual accolades are cool, but Harden is more concerned with winning even if he has to burden more of the load. Chris Paul left the Lakers game early with a hip injury and missed the loss to the Clippers. Meanwhile, Clint Capela and Luc Mbah a Moute missed the LA games, leaving the team without some valuable parts. We could see Paul and Capela back in the lineup, which will bolster Houston’s rotation, but Mbah a Moute, who’s been a valuable reserve and defender is out for a few more weeks with his shoulder injury.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Having Capela and Paul back in the lineup would be a huge boost for the Rockets, who went just three deep on the bench and got 10 points from those players in their loss to the Clippers. Houston has also been the best road team in the league to this point and catches the Celtics playing the second of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights. Harden will get his touches and points and the Rockets need Paul to assist in the backcourt. They were 15-0 with Paul playing until last week when they lost to the Lakers in a game CP3 was injured.
The Celtics, meanwhile, have been average over a two-week stretch and their lead in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference has dwindled. The play of rookie Jayson Tatum and sophomore Jaylen Brown has been good at times, but overall inconsistent as expected from younger players. The Cs are still doing it on the defensive end of the floor, but their weakness is guarding the three-point line, and that’s where the Rockets excel, using that to grab a road victory.
NBA Odds: Rockets 118, Celtics 114
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