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The NBA regular season continues with games on Wednesday. The Charlotte Hornets will hit the road and take on the Boston Celtics. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Hornets-Celtics prediction and pick.
These two teams have had very similar starts to the season. The Charlotte Hornets are coming off a disappointing loss and will look to turn things around on Wednesday. While the Boston Celtics are coming off back-to-back wins and will try and bring that same energy into this match. This should be a competitive game between two solid teams.
Here are the Hornets-Celtics NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Hornets-Celtics Odds
Charlotte Hornets: +5.5 (-110)
Boston Celtics: -5.5 (-110)
Over: 224.5 (-112)
Under: 224.5 (-108)
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Why The Hornets Could Cover The Spread
The Charlotte Hornets have had a roller coaster of a season. When they are on they look like one of the best teams in the league, when they are off they can barely compete. Through their first 51 games, they have managed to win 28 and lose 23. They are coming off a surprising 25-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Charlotte struggled to compete in that match and will look to turn things around on Wednesday. The Boston Celtics provide another tough matchup and chance for Charlotte to step things up. If they can correct some of their mistakes from the last game then they could walk away with a win in Boston.
The Hornets loss to the Clippers seemed like just an off night. Charlotte has been playing solid basketball recently, scoring a three-point win over the Lakers and a dominant 32-point win over the Pacers in the two games prior. However, for some reason, Charlotte seriously struggled offensively against the Clippers. In their matches against the Lakers and the Pacers, four or more players on Charlotte scored 20 or more points. In their loss to the Clippers, not one player on the roster exceeded that mark. Whether this is an outlier or the start of a new trend remains to be determined, Charlotte will have a chance to prove it was just a fluke on Wednesday.
Charlotte has been struggling with injuries all season. At any given point some key roster members have been out for this team. Currently, the Hornets have three players listed on their injury report. Kelly Oubre Jr. recently announced that he will be available for Wednesday's game. Gordon Hayward has just cleared the league's health and safety protocols, but will not be available for this game. Overall the Hornets are mostly healthy and should be able to put their best guys on the court.
Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread
The Boston Celtics have had an underwhelming season so far. For a team that has enough talent to make a deep run in the playoffs, they should be winning more games. Through their first 52 games, the Celtics only have 27 wins and 25 losses. With that said, they did just score an impressive 30-point victory over the Miami Heat. The Celtics will look to carry that momentum and energy into a tough match against Charlotte. Even though the Hornets have been all over the place, they still have the potential to go off. Boston will look to score another win and to build momentum in the second half of the season.
The Celtics were dominant in their last game. Every player on the team stepped up and contributed. Six players scored double-digit points and only three players played for more than 30 minutes. The victory over Miami was the definition of a team win. This was a very different win than their game prior against the Pelicans where only two players scored more than 10 points and the starting five were on the court for the majority of the time. Boston has shown that they can win games in different ways which is a very useful skill.
The only thing that looks like it can stand in the Celtics way is injuries. Earlier in the season, Boston had to overcome the absences of key contributors, however, it seems like they are over that hump. The Celtics have only two players listed on their injury report, none of which are new additions. Boston is healthy and ready to make a late-season run, and that all starts with a win over Charlotte.
Final Hornets-Celtics Prediction & Pick
This is a pretty difficult pick. These two teams are evenly matched and the game could go either way. If Charlotte starts hitting shots then they could end up pulling ahead. However, if Boston's defense steps up and allows the Celtics to score then it could go the other way. The Celtics have the momentum, they have the home-court advantage, this one should go Boston's way. Pick the Celtics to win and cover.
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FINAL HORNETS-CELTICS PICK: Boston Celtics -5.5 (-110)
FINAL HORNETS-CELTICS SCORE PREDICTION: Celtics 114 – Hornets 106
