NBA - 719 Oklahoma City Thunder @ 720 Boston Celtics
Projected line: Boston by 1 point
***SPLIT THE WAGER***
How
is this possible we are taking Boston in this contest? They have been
horrible and the young Thunder are one of the best teams in the
league!!! Boston is 0-4 on their last 4 games, while scoring 74, 85, 79
and 83 points, but matchup wise, if we stopped being only focused in the
athletic edge that Oklahoma City has over Boston, we will quickly
realize that the Celtics have some edges on this contest that are being
forgotten.
First of all, Rajon Rondo will have a clear edge over Russell
Westbrook. As I've already said several times this season, Westbrook
hasn't been able to keep his cool and his self-destruction keeps making
the team struggle. Note that the Thunder are without their backup PG
(Maynor is injured) and Rondo is a very smart guy, being an excellent
defender with a high number of steals, so Boston will have a very
important edge in here.
The Thunder are an improved defensive team this season and we will
keep listening that Perkins has been the key for that. But the truth is
that the Thunder are allowing 42.3 ppg in the paint this season! That's
the 5th worst mark in the whole season! On their four recent losses,
Boston faced Indiana (x2), Dallas and Chicago. And the truth is that
these three teams are very good defensive teams in the paint. Dallas is
2nd with 33.2 ppg allowed, Chicago is 7th with 37.3 ppg allowed and
Indiana is 13th with 38.7 ppg allowed. These teams were able to prevent
the Celtics from scoring easy points in the paint, as Boston scored just
28, 30, 34 and 24 points in the paint in those games. With the Celtics
struggling on their outside shooting, Boston's offense was quickly
stopped in those games. But today against the mediocre interior defense
of the Thunder, Boston will be able to create more easy points
opportunities near the basket and this will allow the Celtics offense to
be more well balanced.
It's obvious that Durant will have a physical edge over Pierce, but
at least Pierce won't be physically challenged down low and Durant will
have to score his points from the outside. Boston has been struggling in
the center position with a banged up Jermaine O'Neal, however Perkins,
as much as he has slimmed down and improved, is not an offensive threat
and so the team help defense of Boston will do a reasonable job tonight.
Therefore, looking at all these angles, I believe this game should
have had a line close to PK. Oklahoma City may be a better overall team,
but Boston is on a clear bounce back spot and playing at home, they
will fired up to recover from their recent losses and make a statement
over a top team on national television. So, I'll be taking the Celtics
tonight. Split the wager!
Pick: 1 unit on 720 Boston Celtics ML @ +125 / 2.25 on Bookmaker
Pick: 2 units on 720 Boston Celtics (+2,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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