Celtics +12. Hopefully Lebron will not come out and try to set the world on the fire after his missed free throws at Houston. Even if he does, I like getting this many points with a well coached Dog that is playing until the final whistle. A possible sandwich game for the Cavs after the Rockets game and @ Toronto Wednesday night.
Utah +7.5 @ Memphis
Utah is playing well, Memphis is not. Utah since the Kanter trade can now play Rudy Gobert more minutes at Center and this has been a great thing for the team. He and Derrick Favors can compete as well as any tandem against Gasol and Randolph. Inside of 5 feet, the Jazz hold teams to 56.8% shooting, 9th best in the league. They have beaten the Trailblazers, Spurs, Nuggets, and Bucks since the break, with a disappointing loss against the Lakers mixed in between. They are playing the best defense in the league since the break. The Grizz did get by Portland with no Lemarcus Aldridge and the Clippers with no Blake Griffin. They then got blown out against the Kings and Clippers before beating Minnesota by 4. The Jazz have already beaten them @ Memphis this season. They lost by 10 at home in the re-match Feb 4th but they were on the second night of a back to back while Memphis was idle Feb 3rd. It doesn't hurt that the total is set at 182.5. I really like this Memphis team and have little doubt they will play better but a tough opponent to start doing that against imo.