Boston Celtics Vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
11/23/12 Dan’s Free NBA Basketball Pick Against the Spread
The Oklahoma City Thunder looks to continue their dominance over the Boston Celtics as the two collide on Friday night.
Head to head, the Celtics are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600, but just 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 3-9-2 ATS in their last 14 games overall. The Thunder on the other hand are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 vs. NBA Atlantic and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest, but just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs. Eastern Conference.
Nearly three weeks into the season and the Boston Celtics continue to struggle. Following their 112-100 defeat the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, which was their third loss in their last four starts, the Celtics dropped to 6-6 as they continue to falter on the defensive end. Boston has now allowed three out of their last four opponents to score over 100 points and is letting in an average of 99.3 on the season, which ranks 19th in the league. They are also the third worst rebounding team in the league, pulling down just 35.9 boards per contest.
It took them a couple of games but the Oklahoma City Thunder is starting to play like we all expected them too. With James Harden jettisoned off to Houston before the first game of the season, the Thunder were clearly effected in the opening couple of weeks, however they looked to have turned things around having won three straight and eight of nine following their 117-111 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Kevin Durant led the way with 35 points while Russell Westbrook added 23 for a Thunder team that had faltered in their first two games against top teams out West.
Given where these teams are at the moment, it would be pretty hard to back the Celtics here and feel confident about it. Not only is Oklahoma City playing much better basketball, but they have also won the last three meetings, two of which were in Boston, by an average of nearly 10 points per game. Boston might surprise us all, but I’m not willing to take that chance…..
Dan’s Pick: Oklahoma City -3.5
