Monday, January 23, 2012

NBA Premium Play 01/22: Boston Celtics @ Washington Wizards

NBA - 801 Boston Celtics @ 802 Washington Wizards

Projected line: 177 points


***DOUBLE DIME PLAY***

Suddenly, the terrible offense of Washington woke up and in their last 3 games, they scored 106, 105 and 104 points, but note that wasn't something unexpected for me, as I took the over in their last two games against OKC and DEN, as I knew Washington's offense would have good offensive numbers on those games. But I strongly believe that this won't happen today and the Wizards will return to their scoring struggles once again!

So, why did the Wizards score so many points on their last three games? That's the key question in here. First of all, due to the pace! Their last 3 games were fast paced games where Washington could use the speed of Wall to create easy points opportunities. The pace numbers of their last three games were 91.5, 100.4 and 97.8! Washington struggles on half court due to their stagnant offense and so, in a wide open game, they were able to score above their season average! Second of all, they scored on fast breaks, with 37, 23 and 18 fast break points scored by the Wizards in those games! These were the two factors that explain why Washington had good offensive nights in their last three games.

But will this happen today? Nope. Boston won't allow Washington to have the kind of game they had in their last three contest. The Celtics like to play on a slow paced half court game and they just don't allow opponents to score fast break points (#2 in the league with just 9.6 FB/game allowed per game!). Rajon Rondo continues to be out and Avery Bradley will start on his place. Bradley is clueless on the offensive end, but he is an outstanding defensive player and he will give some fits to John Wall today. Without Rondo, Boston struggles to score, as their lack of athleticism is quite evident, with Rondo being the only player capable of acceleration the game and score easy points for them! By using some basketball value numbers, we see that when Rondo is on the court, Boston's offensive rating is 105.26, but when he is out, the rating goes to 83.49! We are talking about a 21.77 swing on the Celtics overall offensive efficiency numbers!

Already this season, Boston is 2-0 against Washington and to see the influence that Rondo had in those games, he had a combined of 10-18 FG 24pts 18reb and 27ast!!! Without him, the Celtics will struggle on the offense, but they will do a good job on the defensive end against the Wizards offense, who will return to their struggling days on this slow paced game. Therefore, I came up with a totals projection of 177 points, low enough for me to take the under in here in a Double Dime Play!

Pick: 4 units (Double Dime Play) on 801/802 Under 183 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

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