Two of the hottest teams in the NBA collide at the TD Garden tonight. Ray Allen returns to the court as the Boston Celtics host the San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics find themselves as the small home dog, but find out why I still like Boston in this spot.
San Antonio Spurs (37-14 SU, 32-18
ATS)
Everyone
keeps talking about the "under the radar" San Antonio Spurs but after
last night's destruction of the Cleveland Cavaliers, 125-90 on the road, these
Spurs are no longer the NBA's best kept secret. San Antonio has won 11 of their last 12 games outright and covered in 10
of those 12 contests. Spurs on a
roll? Try landslide.
Last night
was the Spurs 14th win of 16 road games and have been Eastern
Conference slayers by winning 13 of their last 14 against their eastern
foes. As the Spurs close in on the
Thunder for Western Conference supremacy it should be noted that Tim Duncan,
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker each played less than half the game Tuesday night
as coach Gregg Popovich was able to rest his starters for the second of back to
back games on the road.
The key to
the Spurs success this season has been scoring more than the other guy. Sounds simple but they have made their bones
on the offensive side of the court this season, averaging nearly 102 points per
game, ranking them 3rd in the league and neatly spreading the ball
around this season as they rank 5th in assists while picking up over
42 rebounds per game. Defense has not
been their strong suit but has not necessarily been a hindrance either as they
allow 96.4 points per game good for a middle of the pack 17th.
Boston Celtics (30-22 SU, 26-26 ATS)
While the
Spurs are rolling, so too are the
Celtics. Boston has won and covered the NBA odds in 7 of
their last 8 games and none more gratifying than the 91-72 Beantown blowout of
the Heat on Sunday in front of the Garden faithful. Their defense has been suffocating during
their recent win streak, allowing only 83 points per game and former number one
draft pick Avery Bradley may have as much to do with that as any member of the
Celtics.
Bradley has
stepped into the injured Ray Allen's spot at shooting guard and has sparkled on
both ends of the court. Defensively
Bradley has shutdown his opponents production and offensively has averaged 14.6
points per game on 52.8% shooting. Ray
Allen is due back in uniform on Wednesday night, which would normally elicit a
sigh of relief from everyone from the coach to the fans, but what do you about
Bradley?
Apparently
the decision has been made to relegate him to the bench once again and let the
future Hall of Famer Allen back into his starting slot. Allen is one of the NBA's all time greats, but
he is on the back nine of his career and simply cannot do what the youngster
Bradley has done defensively. If he goes
cold from beyond the arc, will coach Doc Rivers allow him to shoot his way out
of the slump as he has in the past or will he tap Bradley? That question may be answered Wednesday
night.
Analysis:
Both teams
are rolling with one doing it defensively and the other wearing opponents out
offensively. It should be an
interesting clash of styles, but I see the Celtics extraordinary defense and the
Spurs back to back road games as the tipping point. Now it must also be noted that the Celtics
are staring a road date with the talented Chicago Bulls right in the face on
Thursday night, so will they be looking ahead?
In my estimation, the Green will be well rested,
having not played since Sunday, and squarely focused on the Spurs. Now come Thursday when they fly into
Chi-town, they may be a bit winded from this game and could be a good fade
tomorrow night but let's focus on tonight's NBA picks and take tomorrow as it comes.
Boston
+1 ½ is the play.