Analysis:1* Take Boston (#731)
Since the beginning of February, the Celtics have been a
strong ‘bet-on’ team coming off of a loss, like the one they suffered yesterday
in a near ‘no-show’ against the Clippers.
They have suffered a handful of losses in this role – at Cleveland and
at San Antonio – two teams that are one hell of a lot better than the Hornets
squad they’ll face tonight. And Boston
has a couple of OT losses off a single defeat as well. But even with those four defeats following a
loss, the Celtics are still 7-4 SU following their last eleven losses; a bet-on
team in this spot.
While Boston is ‘bet-on’ off a defeat, the Hornets are a ‘bet-against’
squad off a win; just 3-8 SU in their last eleven ballgames. Following their last three victories, the Hornets
have lost by 26 to Washington, by 28 to Utah and by 12 to Chicago, none of whom
are elite level foes. This quote from
head coach Steve Clifford doesn’t inspire much confidence either, talking about
the Hornets win over a Hawks team that rested all five starters over the weekend,
yet another game in this endless marathon for Charlotte post-All Star Break:
Clifford: “You can see that we're fatigued. I thought our
guys did a good job wanting to win and playing through a lot of fatigue. We
struggled to guard them. They hit a lot of 3s. But any win in this league is a
good win, especially in the middle of this 17 (games) in 33 days deal." It’s surely worth noting that the Hornets hit
53% from the field in that win over Atlanta, their single best shooting
performance since December; numbers that they’ll be hard pressed to approach
tonight.
And make no mistake about it – Brad Stevens and the Celtics
are treating this like a Game 7 in the playoffs as they sit half a game out of
the #8 seed and a half a game ahead of Charlotte in the standings. Boston
center Tyler Zeller: “Pretty much a must-win
game for us. It's a playoff game against one of the team's we're battling
against. We have to be ready."
They’ll be ready! Take the Celtics.
Pick Made: Mar 30 2015 8:32AM PST