Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics Predictions, Picks and NBA Preview – January 25, 2017

Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics Preview

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

When: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 7:30 PM ET

Line: Houston Rockets (-3) at Boston Celtics (+3); total: 231.0 – view all NBA lines

Writer’s Pick: Houston Rockets (-3)

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Betting on the Houston Rockets (34-14)

Point Spread: -3

The Houston Rockets are in the midst of their rockiest stretch of the season. After losing just twice from Dec. 1 all the way to Jan. 10 (19-2), the Rockets have now gone just 3-5 in their last eight games. They’ve alternated wins and losses for the past seven games, and are coming off a 127-114 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.

James Harden had 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 12 assists for the Rockets, but he also committed 11 of the team’s 21 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Rockets were outrebounded 37-28, and allowed the Bucks to 59 percent from the field.

On the bright side for the Rockets, Ryan Anderson returned from a four-game absence to score 16 points against Milwaukee. Clint Capela, Eric Gordon, and Patrick Beverley also scored at least 16 points.

The Rockets just about edged out the Celtics, 107-106, at home in their first meeting this season. Harden had 37 points, 8 boards, and 7 assists, but had 10 turnovers. Eric Gordon had 19 points off the bench.

With that win, Houston improves to 6-1 (4-3 ATS) in its last seven games against the Celtics. The Rockets are also 6-2 (5-3 ATS) in their last eight trips to Boston.

Betting on the Boston Celtics (26-18)

Point Spread: +3

The Boston Celtics are officially in a slump. They lost on the road last night to the Washington Wizards, 123-108, which is their third defeat in a row. Their two previous losses came against the Knicks (117-106) and the Blazers (127-123 in OT) – both at home.

Isaiah Thomas had 25 points on 7-of-19 shooting against the Wizards, which was an off-night for him given that he’s averaging 33 points and shooting 49 percent for the month of January. However, he did have 13 assists against the Wiz. Al Horford and Jae Crowder added 22 and 17 points, respectively.

It’s been defense that’s let Boston down in their recent slump. The Celtics might finally be missing the defense of Avery Bradley, who sat out his third game in a row with a recurrence of his Achilles injury. The Celtics have given up over 30 points to the last two shooting guards they’ve faced (C.J. McCollum and Bradley Beal). Bradley also had 16 points and 10 boards against the Rockets earlier this season, production which will be tough to reproduce.

Rest hasn’t done too much good for the Celtics, as they had two days rest in between their last two games, and still lost. Maybe a back-to-back is what they need to bounce back. They’ve won three straight second games of a back-to-back, scoring exactly 117 points in those three games.

Writer’s Prediction

The Rockets (-3) pile on the misery for the Celtics as Houston wins, 110-101.

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