After being stunned at home by the upstart Orlando Magic, the Boston Celtics will look to get back in the win column when they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. The Celtics are 2-2 SU and 1-3 ATS this season but won both games in this matchup last year. The Thunder are still looking for their first victory early in the season and are one of two teams left in the NBA without a win.
This contest opened as a pick’em and has since moved to Celtics -1 with a total of 214.
- The Celtics went 2-0 SU and ATS vs the Thunder last season.
- The Celtics are first in the NBA in points allowed per game this season (98.5).
- The Thunder are 1 of 2 NBA teams without a win this season.
Celtics vs Thunder Game Center
The Celtics’ Defense is Still Elite
Despite having a 2-2 SU record to start the year, there are still some positives to take from those losses and one is the Celtics’ defense. Boston is holding teams to 98.5 points per game and that effort carried over from last season when it ranked third in that category. Where the C’s are making their money is on the perimeter as opposing teams are only averaging 30.5 percent shooting from deep, which ranks fourth in the Association.
But if you have an elite defense, you still need to couple that with a great offense and so far this season, the Celtics have regressed. In this run-and-gun style of play in the NBA these days, it almost seems unfathomable that a team can’t average 100 points per game but Boston is ranked second-last in points per game at 99.8, which is not a recipe for success.
The Celtics have a gift and the curse of too many good players which makes their offense stagnant because guys like Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown aren’t getting enough time on the court. Those two are only combining to score 25.8 points per game, which is just over 13 points less than they averaged together last year (38.9). I don’t expect that trend to continue but it is a cause for concern for Celtics backers.
Celtics Took Care Of Business vs Thunder Last Season
Being in different conferences, these teams don’t face each other often in the run of a season but last year when the Celtics and Thunder locked horns, the C’s were the better team.
The Celtics finished 2-0 SU and ATS vs OKC last season and in both of those games, Boston was the underdog. I expect a very close game between two squads desperate for a win as those two contests were decided by a total of eight points. The Celtics also owned the third-best road record in the NBA last season and have the personnel to match up defensively with Russell Westbrook and Paul George to slow them down. The Thunder are also one of two NBA teams yet to record a win.
The UNDER May Be the Best Play
The total opened at 214 and trends are pointing to an UNDER in this tilt. Both teams rank in the bottom five in scoring this season and the UNDER hit in both of their games last season with an average combined score of 197 points per game. The UNDER has also hit in three of the Celtics’ four games this year with an average combined score of 198.2 points per game.
My Pick is…
To take the UNDER. I think this game will be close and fall short of the total as both teams rank in the bottom five in three-point field-goal percentage and points per game. I know scoring is up in the NBA this season but the Celtics are a stingy defense and should keep the pace of this game in check.
