Boston Celtics vs Phoenix Suns betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game on NBA TV. In the only TV game of the night in the NBA the Celtics host the shorthanded Suns in their 2nd and final meeting this regular season. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Boston Celtics
The first meeting of the season played back in early December was a no contest as the Celtics ran over the Suns 125-98 on the road. Boston just outplayed them in every single facet of the game, and to make matters worse the Suns were doing a lot better on the injury front in that game than they are today.
Only Marcus Smart will be missing for the Celtics in this one, but they’ve been able to connect back-to-back wins without their starting point-guard. Most oddsmakers have the home team favored by 9.5 points here, they’ve gone 34-14 SU as favorites this season and at home they’ve won 9 of 10 games. The Cs also enter tonight’s game riding a 5-game win streak vs teams from the Western Conference.
Phoenix Suns
Although Devin Booker isn’t back in the line-up yet, the Suns are doing much better now after a disappointing first half of January. Over their last 8 games they’ve gone 6-2 SU/ATS and a big reason for that has been the play of Chris Paul who has turned back the clock and is averaging 18.5 points and 9.2 assists over his last 6 outings.
Those numbers would have been higher if he didn’t have just 3 points and 3 dimes in the loss against Atlanta on Wednesday, that wasn’t a good look for the Suns as they lost by 32 points at home. Although they are 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings with the Celtics, it’s kind of hard to expect them to bounce back against one of the toughest home teams in the league right now.
I’m not a fan of backing teams to win by double digits, but the Celtics should really be doing so here. Phoenix is missing Cam Payne, Landry Shamet and Devin Booker. You need to have everyone ready if you want to compete with the Celtics. Take the home team to cover in this one.
Boston Celtics vs Phoenix Suns Predictions & Odds
At 225 points the projected total has been set a bit high for my taste here. These two teams combined for 223 points in the first meeting this season, even that scoreline was an anomaly as in the previous 10 meetings they’ve averaged just 209.2 points per game between them. The total has gone 3-7 on the O/U during that stretch, neither team has shot the ball well at just 43% in those 10 games.
That just tells me both are relying way more on defense to win these games, which is to be expected as these are the 6th and 9th best ranked defensive efficiencies we have in the NBA today. Both teams also rank in the bottom 10 in pace of play averaging 100.1 and 99.7 possessions per game. That too should contribute to a lower scoring game here, so let’s back the under.
