Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/14/21
2021-03-14 20:00:00 EDT
The Boston Celtics pay a visit to the slumping Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center on Sunday night.
The Boston Celtics have won six of their past 11 games and they were riding a four-game win streak before getting stopped by the Nets in a 121-109 road loss on Thursday. Jayson Tatum led the team with 31 points on 13 of 22 shooting, Daniel Theis added 17 points with eight rebounds while Marcus Smart chipped in with 19 points in just 21 minutes of action off the bench. As a team, the Celtics shot 45 percent from the field and 13 of 40 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 11-point lead, before going ice-cold at the worst time as they managed just three points in the final 4:16 to allow the Nets to run away with it late.
Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets have been in a world of hurt as they will be hoping to put an end to an ugly 15-game losing streak after falling to the Jazz in a 114-99 road loss on Friday. Kevin Porter Jr. led the team with 27 points and eight assists, Sterling Brown and Kenyon Martin Jr. each scored 15 points while Justin Patton chipped in with 13 points. As a team, the Rockets shot just 36 percent from the field and nine of 43 from the 3-point line as they struggled right from the tipoff and never looked threatening after falling behind by 17 points going into halftime. Jae’Sean Tate scored just seven points on three of 13 shooting while Ben McLemore scored just eight points on three of 14 shooting.
Looking at the betting trends, the Celtics are 0-7 ATS in their last seven road games, 2-10 ATS in their last 12 games against a team with a losing record and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Rockets are 8-20 ATS in their last 28 home games, 1-5 ATS in their last six games as an underdog and 16-35 ATS in their last 51 games overall.
Head to head, the under is 23-9 in the last 32 meetings overall and the under is 12-3 in the last 15 meetings in Houston.
The Celtics are coming into this game fresh off a double-digit loss to the Nets, but they had won four straight games before that loss and they look so much better with Smart back in the lineup. Meanwhile, the Rockets have been the most disappointing team this season and I don’t see them improving much with so many key players still on the sidelines. The line seems a little hefty, but I think the Celtics bounce back in a big way against the slumping Rockets.
