Portland Trailblazers at Boston Celtics Betting Preview
Opening Line: Blazers +10 / Celtics -10 O/U 187
Time: 7:30 PM EST Friday January 22, 2010 on CSNN
Tonight the slumping Boston Celtics host the Portland Trailblazers. Boston is not playing great lately, but they will get Kevin Garnett back and that should give them a lift. The Celtics have lost 3 games in a row and are only 4-6 in their last 10 games, but still are in 1st place in the Atlantic Division by 7.5 games over the Toronto Raptors. The Blazers are coming off a win, are 6-4 in their last 10 games, and are in 2nd place in the Northwest Division 2.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets.
This season the Celtics are 16-6 at home and 17-23 ATS and the Blazers are 10-10 on the road and 22-19-2 ATS.
In their last games the Celtics lost to the Detroit Pistons 92-86 on Wednesday night and the Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 98-90 also on Wednesday night.
Man, the Celtics really need KG back in the lineup, as they are only 4-6 without him and they need his offense and especially his defense. Since KG has been out the Celtics have given up an average of 99.4 ppg and with him in the middle they only gave up an average of 91.9 ppg. His offense is much needed as well, as in their 3-game losing streak they have only averaged 86.3 ppg.
The injury bug has hit the Blazers hard this season, as they are thin in the middle with centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla out for the season. With them out the frontcourt players of PF LeMarcus Aldridge (16.2 ppg 8.3 ppg) and C Juwan Howard (5.6 ppg 4.1 rpg) have to pick up the scoring and rebounding slack.
With the big guys out for the Blazers their offense has really struggled, as they only rank 23rd in the league in scoring (97.7 ppg). That is not good since they face a Boston team that has their defensive stopper back (KG) and ranks 2nd in the league in points allowed (93.8 ppg). Brandon Roy (23.1 ppg) and Aldridge will have to provide the offense for Portland tonight.
Portland will have to win this game with their defense, which has been legit this season ranking 3rd in the league in points allowed (94.2 ppg). They will have their hands full tonight against the Big 3 of Ray Allen (16.1 ppg), Paul Pierce (18.7 ppg), and KG (15 ppg).
Portland is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games against teams with a winning S.U. record, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against teams in the Atlantic Division, and the total has gone Over in 9 of their last 13 games. Boston is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against teams in the Northwest Division, and the total has gone over in 5 of the last 7 games against teams with a winning S.U. record.
Future Betting Odds
NBA Handicapping
Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics 5-28
The Magic have won 2 games in a row in this series and look to tie the series tonight, as the Boston Celtics hosts Orlando in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Magic have got back in this series and look to become the first team ever in the NBA to come back from a 3-0 deficit. The Celtics are small 3.5 point favorite at Bodog tonight when they try to close out this series at home.