Brooklyn Nets vs Boston Celtics NBA Betting Odds, Preview, and Prediction

The Brooklyn Nets face the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida as the NBA’s seeding games continue.

Brooklyn produced the biggest win of the bubble tournament so far when the Nets defeated the #1 team in the league in the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. Despite playing without their injured All-Stars and resting three key players, the Nets pulled off the biggest point-spread upset in the league in nearly two decades. Meanwhile, the Celtics are coming off their second loss in three games. Boston lost to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night and the Heat are now within striking distance of the Celtics in the race for the third seed in the East.

Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets head to Wednesday’s game coming off the biggest upset in the NBA since the 1990s. The Nets were +19 underdogs to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday and they were without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Spencer Dinwiddie. With a playoff spot all but wrapped up, the Nets also played Milwaukee with Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, and Caris Levert resting. Despite the massive personnel disadvantage, they defeated the top team in the NBA 119-116 to move to 2-1 in the seeding games.

Timothy Luwawu-Cabarrot knocked down back to back three-pointers to give the Nets the lead for good and Garrett Temple sealed the win with a step-back jumper with 7.3 seconds left as the Nets became the biggest point-spread underdogs to win a regular-season game since 1993. Luwawu-Cabarrot scored a career-high 26 points while Garrett Temple added 19 points for Brooklyn. Tyler Johnson, Justin Anderson, Rodions Kurucs, and Chris Chiozza all scored in double digits.

The Nets are ranked 17th in the NBA in scoring at 111.0 points per game. They are 18th in scoring defense at 111.6 points per game allowed this season. Brooklyn is the league’s second-best rebounding team at 48.3 boards hauled per outing. They are also 16th in passing at 24.1 assists per contest.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics clinched a playoff spot in their final game before the season was suspended. They entered the bubble tournament looking to move up in the standings but after three games so far, the Celtics are 1-2 and they suddenly find themselves trying to fend off the 4th seeded Miami Heat who are now just three games behind them in the team standings. In their last game on Tuesday, the Celtics dropped a 106-112 contest to the Heat.

Boston’s staunch defense gave up two 30-point quarters in the first half to fall behind by 12 points at the break. They never recovered as the Heat played steady basketball to hang on and win the game. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 23 points and 7 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Jaylen Brown added 18 points but he shot just 9-23 from the field while Gordon Hayward also struggled from the floor with his 5-13 shooting for 15 points. The Celtics gave up 12 more free throws and the Heat made seven more foul shots. Miami also knocked down five more three-pointers in the game.

The Celtics rank 11th in scoring at 113.2 points per game this season. They are 3rd in scoring defense at 107.3 points per game allowed. Boston is ranked 9th overall in rebounding at 45.8 boards grabbed per contest and they are 25th in passing at 22.7 assists per game.

Who Wins?

Brooklyn is 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played. The Nets are 2-3 SU in their last five games played on the road and 8-12 SU in their last 20 games played as betting underdogs. Boston is also 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played. The Celtics are 4-1 SU in their last five games played away from the TD Garden and 22-6 SU in 28 games as betting favorites against the Eastern Conference. Head to head, Boston is 6-4 SU in their last 10 meetings against the Nets. However, Brooklyn has taken three out of their last four head to head games.

Both these teams are trying to hold off the teams next to them in the standings in order to lock their respective playoff positions. The Nets are trying to avoid a first-round duel with the Bucks and they are just one-half game up on the Magic right now. The Celtics are in third, trying to hold off the 4th placed Heat who have cut the deficit to three games. Two losses in their first three seeding games have pushed them five games behind the 2nd seeded Raptors.

The Nets got a huge win on Tuesday night while the Celtics have lost two of three in Orlando. But this Brooklyn team is without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, and Taurean Prince. Their reserves played well against the Bucks and the Nets could rest their key players once again. Boston doesn’t have any health issues right now and their restart has begun on the wrong foot. Look for Brad Stevens to get his team back in focus with a very winnable game here.

Prediction: Boston Celtics

Other Bets to Make

The Nets are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played. Brooklyn is 3-2 ATS in their last five games played on the road. The Celtics are 3-4-3 ATS in their last 10 games played. Boston is 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games away from home and 20-11-2 ATS overall on the road this season. Head to head, the Nets are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Celtics.

Brooklyn has Boston’s number when it comes to covering the spread but you have to look at the personnel that the Nets are missing and the ones they could be resting. Sure, the Nets produced a mammoth upset against the Bucks. But I don’t expect them to pull off another shocker against a Celtics team that will be determined to get back to their winning ways. Boston simply has too much firepower for the Nets. I’ll eat the chalk and bet on Boston.

Prediction: Celtics -9

The total has gone under in four out of the last six games played by the Nets. The over is 3-2 in Brooklyn’s last five games played on the road. The total has gone over in six out of the last 10 games played by the Celtics. The over is 4-1 in Boston’s last five games played away from home. Head to head, the total has gone over in the last three meetings between these two teams.

The solid Celtics defense that limited opponents to 107.3 points per game before the COVID-19 break has conceded at least 112 points in each of their three games here in Orlando. However, they have a good chance of righting the ship against this undermanned Brooklyn team which is playing without its top three scorers. I like the Celtics to bounce back big here. I’m not just expecting a big offensive outburst from Boston but I expect their defense to be laser-focused.

Prediction: Under

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