Eastern Conference rivals Chicago and Boston will butt heads for the third time this season when they hook up at the TD Garden later tonight. Start time in this evening’s clash between the Bulls and Celtics is set for 7:00pm ET; the game will be broadcast live on ESPN. Friday NBA Odds are favoring the hosting Celtics at -3 against the spread while the Over/Under is set at 182 points.

The Celtics were mostly an up and down heading into the new year, but since the calendar change they have played a better brand of basketball.

Boston, now 20-18 overall, is 6-2 in its last eight games, and it carried a six game winning streak into Wednesday night’s home meeting with the Hornets. Surprisingly, the Celtics saw their run come to an end at the hands of New Orleans as they fell 90-78.

The uninspired effort smacked of a mental night off and the box score confirms as much. Boston shot a pathetic 37.5 percent from the charity stripe (6-of-16) and it got out-rebounded 48 to 33. The Celtics do rank dead last in rebounds per game at 38.7, but New Orleans is not much better at 41.7 per contest, indicating Doc Rivers' crew conceded a number of boards to the Hornets.

The Celtics should find a little more energy for tonight’s contest given the opponent and national television audience. Will it make any difference, though?

Boston is 2-6 in its last eight meetings with Chicago, but to be fair, the last four games between the two teams took place at the United Center. The Bulls (22-15), who are on a bit of a hot streak of their own (7-3 last 10 games), have lost six times in their last eight trips to the TD Garden (lost by an average of 13.8 points per game in those six setbacks).

Free Pick: Take the Celtics -3. Boston is 5-0 straight up and 4-1 against the spread in its last five games as a home favorite with a spread between 0 and 3.5 points and total between 180 and 185 points.

Chicago Bulls vs Boston Celtics NBA Odds:

Chicago Bulls +3 (-110), Over 182 (-110)

Boston Celtics -3 (-110), Under 182 (-110)

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