Friday night in the NBA will see the Phoenix Suns travel to the northeast to take on the Boston Celtics. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 pm tipoff and will be televised live on CSN and FS Arizona. Currently Boston is favored by 5 to 5.5 points with the total being set at 183 for this game. The Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns each ended a five-game losing streak in their last contest and one of these aging teams is guaranteed to make it two in a row Friday night when the NBA's assist leaders meet as Rajon Rondo and the Celtics host Steve Nash and the Suns.
Free Analysis: Aside from being guided by elite point guards, the Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics have been on eerily similar paths this season. Heading into Friday's matchup in Boston, the teams were able to erase one common denominator when each snapped five-game losing streak Wednesday. Steve Nash (37) led the way for the Suns with 26 points and 11 assists, becoming the oldest player in the league to put up at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game, while Center Marcin Gortat extended his string of double-doubles to a career-high six games with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Gortat has grabbed 12 or more rebounds in three straight games, and the last Sun to post that many in four straight contests was Shawn Marion back in 2006-07. Steve Nash (15.1 ppg on 55.2% shooting) comes in having scored 51 points on 19-of-25 shooting in his last two overall, he has averaged just 11.4 points in 27 career games versus Boston. Phoenix comes in middle of the pack on offense at 93.9 after being in the top five in each of the previous seven seasons since Nash rejoined the club, while on defense that have done better than previous years, allowing just 96.4 ppg. The Suns will close out their road trip on Monday at Dallas. Tonight they are aiming for consecutive road wins for the first time this season and first time since winning three ion a row as the guest from Feb. 25-28. The Celtics had dropped five in a row since a four-game winning streak from Dec. 30- Jan. 4 and found the win column with Wednesday's 96-73 win over the Toronto Raptors. Rajon Rondo scored a game-high 21 points before leaving the game in the third quarter with a wrist injury. X-rays taken revealed no break and the team opted to keep Rondo sidelined as a precaution, and is listed as doubtful for tonight. Other injury news includes guard Keyon Dooling (knee) who is questionable and center Jermaine O'Neal (wrist), who is listed as probable. Celtics guard Ray Allen scored only six points Wednesday, both on 3-pointers. He is shooting 55.9 percent (33 of 59) from beyond the arc, which has helped the Celts lead the league in 3pt shooting (42.9%). Rondo is the only Celtics starter under 33 and age has certainly been a factor on offense, as the Celtics are averaging 90.2 ppg for one of the NBA's lowest marks. At the other end of the floor the Celtics have been solid, as they have allowed just 91 ppg (7th) on 43.4% shooting (12th). Phoenix and Boston split a home-and-home series a year ago, but the Suns have won eight of the past 12 matchups. These two clubs have split the previous 12 meetings at TD Garden. In last years games Boston's Kevin Garnett averaged 23.0 points on 70.4 percent shooting and 10.0 boards while Phoenix's Marcin Gortat averaged 16.0 and 15.0.
Free Pick: As i have said in many of my NBA pick threads over at Pregame I have stated that this is a whole new NBA this year. The Suns are a team that is usually in the top 5 in scoring and the bottom 5 in defense, but this aging team has put up just 93.9 ppg (16th) on offense, while playing much better at the defensive end, allowing just 96.4 ppg (22nd), after ranking 29th (105.9 ppg) in that category last year. Phoenix has not been running as much this year as they were 7th in shots per game last year (83.5), but just 14th this year (80.7) and they have struggled to score on the road, where they have averaged just 91.6 ppg. It doesn't look to get any easier for them tonight as they will face a Boston team that has allowed just 85.2 ppg on 42.4% shooting in their home games this year. The Phoenix defense has really been on a down turn of late as they have allowed 103.8 ppg in their last 5 games, but fear not as this Boston team has had all sorts of problems at the offensive end, where they have put up just 90.2 ppg overall and 88.4 ppg at home. Phoenix games have gone 4-10 to the Under this year and that's with much, much lower OU lines than in years past. while Boston has gone 4-8-1 to the Under this year. Boston home games have gone 7-1 to the Under this year, with an average of just 173.6 ppg being scored and with two struggling offenses and one very tough Boston defense I will see more of the same tonight.
Free Picks: Hawks at Sixers Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Sixers depth is key to this game and Hawks have had toughest schedule in NBA plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Hawks at Sixers (Friday, January 20, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Stephen Nover and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.