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The NBA season continues with games on Friday. The Boston Celtics will hit the road and face off against the Phoenix Suns. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Celtics-Suns prediction and pick.
These two teams are having very different seasons. The Boston Celtics are 13-13 and are coming off back to back losses. While the Phoenix Suns are 20-4 and recently had their 18-game win streak snapped. This should be a good game between two competitive teams.
Here are the odds for the Celtics-Suns Friday night NBA matchup, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Celtics-Suns Odds
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Boston Celtics: +4.5 (-110)
Phoenix Suns: -4.5 (-110)
Over: 213.5 (-110)
Under: 213.5 (-110)
Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread
The Boston Celtics have been struggling to win games this season. Through their first 26 games the are dead even with only 13 wins. They are coming off a very unsuccessful road trip to LA where they lost to both the Lakers and the Clippers. Boston will be looking to bounce back against another tough Western Conference opponent. The Celtics will need to bring their A-game if they want to win Friday's game.
The Celtics were defeated 114-111 by the Clippers in their last game. In that game Boston did a lot of things well. They had a nearly dead even shooting night with LA. Both teams shot roughly 47% from the field and made 90% of their free throw attempts. However, the Clippers were able to pull ahead because they made four more threes than the Celtics. Boston was able to stay in the game because they significantly out rebounded LA, 47 to 38 and the Celtics were still efficient on offense. Yet, they just fell short because they couldn't put up enough points. The Celtics will look to limit the Suns shooting on Friday, and if they can do that then they should be able to do everything else to emerge victorious.
Leading the way for the Celtics is Jayson Tatum. Tatum has become the face of this Boston team and for good reason, he is one of the best players in the NBA. In their loss to the Clippers, Tatum had 29 points and 10 rebounds. This type of performance is not atypical for Tatum. On the season he is averaging nearly 26 points and 9 rebounds per game. Tatum has the ability to take over games and if he can have a big night on Friday then the Celtics could pull of this upset.
Why The Suns Could Cover The Spread
The Phoenix Suns have been the hottest team in basketball. Up until two games ago they hadn't lost for 18 straight games. Through 24 games they have a record of 20-4. They have been without Devin Booker, but that doesn't seem to have slowed them down. Phoenix is coming off an 8 point victory over the San Antonio Spurs. They will be looking to rebuild their win streak and that starts with a win over Boston. The Suns are one of the best teams in the league and definitely have the ability to compete with and beat the Celtics.
The Spurs-Suns game was actually very close, Phoenix only won 108-104. The statistics for each team were pretty balanced in that game. While the Suns had a higher field goal percentage in that game, 45.7% vs 43%, the Spurs actually shot better from beyond the arc 37.9% vs 34.5%. Phoenix had 8 more rebounds than San Antonio, but the Spurs had 6 more steals. A lot of the categories kind of balance out, which makes sense in what ended up being a very close game. If the Suns want to beat Boston they will need to significantly improve on their last game.
Leading the way for Phoenix is Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. Chris Paul has proven that he is still a great basketball player. In their win over the Spurs, CP3 had 21 points and 10 assists. Paul can still run an offense better than any point guard in the league. Meanwhile, Ayton has the ability to dominate down low. He is coming off a 14 point, 9 rebound performance. Ayton balances the offense and gives this Suns team a big presence in the paint. This duo is dominant and they will look to take over on Friday against the Celtics.
Final Celtics-Suns Prediction & Pick
This is a tough decision. On one hand, the Celtics seem like they should be able to cover. They have a lot of talent and are mostly healthy. However, they really haven't looked great in their past two games and are trending in the wrong direction. On the flip side, the Suns should have beaten the Spurs by a lot more and didn't play up to their potential in that match. With that said, pick Phoenix to bounce back and rise to the occasion against a tougher opponent. Pick the Suns to win and cover.
FINAL CELTICS-SUNS PICK: Phoenix Suns -4.5 (-110)
FINAL CELTICS-SUNS SCORE PREDICTION: Suns 120 – Celtics 113
