The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics are the sizeable betting favorites on a 10-point spread for their Christmas Day matchup with the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday evening at TD Garden.
Here's a spread, moneyline, total, and player prop expert pick for this meeting of Atlantic Division rivals on December 25, 2024.
This is where the buckets roll. Philly meets the defending champion Celtics on Christmas Day 🍿
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 23, 2024
📺 NBA Christmas on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and Disney+ pic.twitter.com/jlw915w5iz
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Betting Odds
Preview: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics, 5 p.m. ET
| Team | Spread | Money | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia 76ers | +10 (-112) | +330 | O 221.5 (-110) |
| Boston Celtics | -10 (-108) | -420 | U 221.5 (-110) |
Odds as of December 23, 2024 at FanDuel
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Expert Picks
Philadelphia 76ers ATS +10 (-108), Boston Celtics ML (-420)
The Celtics have been a mainstay of Christmas Day basketball programming, having competed on Dec. 25 every year since 2016 with two-straight victories SU and three-straight covers. They enter this matchup with Philadelphia coming off a disappointing 108-14 loss on Monday night to an Orlando Magic team which trailed by 15 points at halftime and were missing Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner, and Gary Harris, although Boston was also without the services of Jayson Tatum.
The five-time All-Star forward is expected to return to action against the 76ers, who haven't dropped consecutive games in December and just defeated the San Antonio Spurs by five points on Monday at home after losing Joel Embiid to an early ejection.
Philadelphia is 3-2 SU this season when all three of Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey are available, but the team has dropped three-straight games to Boston dating back to last season, two of which were by double digits. It also had a four-game winning streak both SU and ATS away from the Wells Fargo Center broken on Dec. 21 against the league-best Cleveland Cavaliers, and none of the previous wins came against teams with winning records.
Boston at least looks vulnerable with a 3-3 record SU over its last six outings, and while the 76ers have a rough record ATS at 10-17, the Larry O'Brien winners are only marginally better at 11-18. The 10-point spread is large enough for the visitors to cover, although having Tatum back and being in their backyard should propel the Celtics to their latest win.
UNDER 221.5 Total Points (-110)
The UNDER has reached in four of Boston's last six games at home, and both teams rank outside of the top 10 in the Association in offense per 100 possessions over the last five games.
An UNDER has also been notched in four of the last six games between the two sides, as well.
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Player Prop
Jayson Tatum OVER 38.5 Points + Rebounds (-104)
Tatum has reached an OVER on this combination prop in three-straight games, four of his last five, and six of his last eight. It holds greater value as opposed to betting on him grabbing double-digit rebounds again at just -132, so pairing two statistics together for greater profit is the direction here.
Philadelphia also allows opposing power forwards to grab the sixth-most rebounds overall, and Tatum has finished with fewer than 10 just once this month and that was back on Dec. 1.
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Betting Trends
- Derrick White has exceeded 19.5 points + assists in 13 of his last 15 games at home (23.7 points + assists/game average).
- Jaylen Brown has failed to exceed 1.5 3-pointers in four of his last five games (1.0 3-pointers/game average).
- Tyrese Maxey has exceeded 1.5 steals + blocks in 11 of his last 13 games (2.6 steals + blocks/game average).
*all betting trends courtesy of Outlier
