NBA Premium Play 03/23: Boston Celtics @ Philadelphia 76ers

NBA - 863 Boston Celtics @ 864 Philadelphia 76ers

Projected line: Philadelphia by 4 points

This is a back to back game for Boston, so this is a potential tough spot for them. Yesterday in Milwaukee, Pierce played 34 minutes, Bass 37 minutes, Garnett 31 minutes and Rondo 35 minutes. The game was a really fast paced one, so can fatigue be an issue in here? Even with some potential physical problems, the Celtics' perimeter defense is very impressive right now. On the other side, Philadelphia had some offensive problems against the Knicks, as they were a completely outside shooting team, with just 9-13 FG at the rim and 1-6 FG from 3-9 feet, while they had 44 FG attempts from 16 feet or further! 

Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner have yet to figure out how to play with each other, while Doug Collins is equally clueless about how to use them. Jrue was fine in the game against the Knicks, Turner was awful, but you can't discount how much their roles fluctuate from game to game. Collins is still feeling them out, but it seems so obnoxiously drastic each night that their rhythm is unmistakably off. Spencer Hawes was also terrible, but he's still working his way back so a tentative pass for him. Though if he's not at full strength, why in the name of all that is Bossy did Nikola Vucevic (and Lavoy Allen) didn't play a single minute in that game? 

In the first game of the series, the Sixers destroyed Boston by 103-71, however note that Boston was on a 3in4-b2b spot on that contest, with the first two games of that span going to overtime with their starters playing heavy minutes. Philadelphia destroyed Boston on the boards and were a really good jump shooting team in that contest. I expect the Sixers to have some problems in their offensive flow this time and with Hawes playing, I expect some problems for the Sixers inside defense as well. I believe Boston will be competitive on this game and therefore, I'll take the Celtics in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 863 Boston Celtics (+7) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker