The Boston Celtics have hit a swoon, and as a result, have been taken over for the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Toronto Raptors now sit atop the conference and the Celtics are hoping to reclaim that positioning down the stretch. They are hoping to turn it around in a matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers next time out.
Even though Boston has struggled lately, it is the better team and has the home court advantage, so it will be the favorite to claim this victory. The Clippers are hanging around in the Western Conference playoff picture despite recently trading Blake Griffin and would benefit greatly from pulling off an upset in this contest.
This war on the floor will go down Wednesday, February 14, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET at the TD Garden. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Clippers are 28-26 straight up and 29-25 against the spread. Los Angeles has covered in 15 of 26 attempts on the road this season. The Clippers are 12-14 against the spread as the underdog on the year.
The Celtics are 40-18 straight up and 34-22-2 against the spread. Boston is 16-13-2 against the spread at home this season. The Celtics are 22-20-2 against the spread as the favorite.
Key Stat
O.5. That’s the number of games out of the East lead the Celtics are after they fell to the Cavs on Sunday to fall behind the Raptors. Boston got off to a great start this season and had been sitting atop the standings for much of the season before Toronto finally caught up.
The Celtics have only gone 6-4 over their past 10 games while the Raptors used a hot streak to take over the No. 1 spot. The Raptors have a much better point-differential and will likely be favored to remain in the top spot, with the new-look Cavaliers also lurking.
If Boston can find a way to overtake the Raptors, it would be big, as the Celtics would grab home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Player To Watch
Lou Williams — The Clippers sent star power forward Blake Griffin to the Pistons but have been able to stay afloat in large part because of the play of Williams, He doesn’t start for Los Angeles but is averaging 22.3 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range.
Williams is adding 5.3 assists and more than a steal per game as well as he has been fantastic for the Clippers since coming over in the offseason ina trade for Chris Paul.
Los Angeles will be the underdog in this game but Williams has had some big-time games this season and if he can light up the Celtics it could give the Clippers a chance at pulling off the upset.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Celtics have struggled scoring the ball of late and have needed to rely on their defense. This could be a tough matchup for them as the Clippers have the ability to shoot well from the perimeter.
Boston is likely going to be a comfortable favorite to win this game, but the Celtics have been reeling of late and an upset is possible. While the Clippers aren’t a great team, they have remained surprisingly competitive without Griffin in the fold and should have enough firepower on the outside to take this game down to the wire.
Los Angeles is too good of a value on the moneyline to pass it up. The Clippers are the easy choice to cover the spread but they could really pay off lucratively with the upset win.
NBA Odds: Clippers 104, Celtics 100
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