NBA Basketball: Boston Celtics VS Houston Rockets Pick and Predictions 03/13/2023

Game: 8:10 PM ET,  Monday, March 13th, 2023

Venue: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

TV:  NBA League Pass

Celtics: 47-21, 2nd place Eastern Conference

Rockets: 15-52, 15th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Celtics -12.5, O/U 231.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Celtics -12.5, O/U 231.5

Fanduel: Point Spread:  Celtics -12.5, O/U 231.5

Celtics: PG Marcus Smart, SG Jaylen Brown, SF Jayson Tatum, PF Al Horford, C Mike Muscala

Rockets: PG Kevin Porter Jr, SG Jalen Green, SF Kenyon Martin JR, PF Jabari Smith JR, C Alperen Sengun

An inter-conference absolute mismatch between a great team in the Eastern Conference with real goals of winning a Championship… and the Western Conference's most obvious tire fire with real goals of winning the NBA draft lottery… by simply not winning anything now.  The Boston Celtics spent the majority of the NBA season in first place.  They have a great roster and they played in last season's Championship series falling short to the Warriors.  The only major change to the Celtics this season is a new head coach… but that hasn’t slowed them down.  They are a great roster playing for a historically great team.  They could not hold off the Bucks for first place after the Bucks won 16 games in a row… but they will get a showdown in the Eastern Conference Finals to make their case.  The Houston Rockets are the worst team in the league.  They built their roster and their starting five for the sole purpose of losing now.. To win the Grand prize of the coming draft. They start five kids that were recent NBA draft picks themselves… and seemed to have missed in a few of those drafts.  The kids, though athletic, simply can not play defense OR make solid in-game decisions yet.  So the Rockets have a two part plan.. Season these current kids with NBA action and draft improvements in the coming seasons.  At the moment only C Aleperen Sengun should be starting in the NBA… all other Rockets starters should be bench players learning from vets.  The great betting opportunity in this one?... We have to look at the VERY BIG point spread… and compare that to recent trends for the Rockets against teams not as good as the Celtics.

The Boston Celtics have won 6 of their last 10 games.  They have been struggling all season with minor injuries to key guys… but have still managed a wonderful winning record.  They went 5-5 ATS during that stretch.  They are 3rd in the league in scoring with 117.9 points per game.  They won their last game (and ATS) against the Atlanta Falcons 134-125.  In the win they got 34 points from SF Jayson Tatum who was playing PF… and 24 points from SG Jaylen Brown who was playing SF.  SG Derrick White got 18 points and PG Malcolm Brown came off the bench to land another 18 points.  The key to this team is they get the job done from wave after wave of skill players… Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, and  SF Sam Hauser… can keep the offense crushing while usually coming off the bench.

The Houston Rockets have won only 2 of their last 10 games.  They went 3-5-1 ATS during that stretch.  They failed to cover a 12.5 spread to the Nuggets, an 11 point spread to the Grizzlies, and a 9 point spread to the woeful Trail Blazers.  The Rockets are an awful 28th in the NBA on defense… and a very awful 29th on offense for a -8.2 points per game played.  They lost their last game to the Chicago Bulls 119-111 (for a Push on an 8 point spread). In the loss the Rockets had 7 players score in double figures with PF Jabari Smith JR leading the way with 20 points… That is deceiving because the Rockets turn games into track meets with wild shot selections that are bound to give up more points than they are scoring when they are scoring.

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Our prediction for Monday, March 13th is…. Celtics 128 - Rockets 100

Bet on the Celtics… The Celtics are 3rd in scoring and 9th on defense… The Rockets are near last in the league in both categories.  This is a blow-out gimme for the Celtics.  

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The Celtics are 7-17 ATS after two consecutive covers as a favorite the last 3 seasons.

The Rockets are 89-129 ATS in all games the last 3 seasons.

Celtics: SG Derrick White.  Derrick would be a starting SG on many other teams in the league… Here he is the top bench guy.  He can play Celtics basketball and he can play it whether he gets 20 minutes or 40 minutes.  The guy is a secret weapon that is not so secret.

Rockets: Nobody.  Seriously.  A team that isn’t trying to win.. Is full of players not capable of winning.  The only time to watch any of these guys is next season… and only if they land Victor Wembanyama or Scoot.

Celtics: Joe “loving my day job” Mazzula

Rockets: Stephen “Babysitter’s Club” Silas