NBA: Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets clash at the Spectrum Center tonight. This should be a fun game to watch involving two teams that play attractive basketball and have a vast highlight reel potential. Also, the pressure for winning is high because of the situation in the standings, therefore we expect to see a pretty high intensity on the floor. The Cs are fifth in the East with 3.5 games of an edge ahead of the Raptors, who are chasing the playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Hornets have to post some wins otherwise, they will be out of the play-in zone as they currently sit ninth in the conference.

Preview

Boston Celtics (39-27, -290) won the past three games, and have 14 victories over the past 16 events, which is the main reason they hold one of the places that lead directly to the playoffs. After a slow start, we saw the Cs clicking and starting to play as expected, delivering masterful performances, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

Though, in the recent few games, Tatum and the boys were focused on the offense, which is why we saw them dropping 120 and 126 points in the latest two events against the Grizzlies and the Nets. Boston was better than Brooklyn 126-120 this weekend, with Tatum going off, and dropping 54 points. He already had 37 against the Grizzlies and just kept on pounding at the same pace.

Brown was a good backup with 21 points, while Al Horford scored 13 with seven boards and Marcus Smart had 14 with nine assists. Pretty much the entire team followed Tatum well in this one.

Charlotte Hornets (32-34, +230) lost last night at home to the Brooklyn Nets, 132-131 in a classic gunfight that saw Kyrie Irving dropping 50 points. It was a chance for the hosts to again reach the .500-mark, but unfortunately, they failed to do it.

The Hornets allowed the guests to shoot 56.1% from the field, and to have 18 threes in 35 attempts, and when you give Durant and Kyrie such an opportunity, the punishment is swift and cruel.

Miles Bridges had 30 points, the same as Terry Rozier. Bridges was 11-for-19 from the field, while Rozier shot 10-for-19, hitting five threes and having eight rebounds. LaMelo Ball dropped 24, but with a much worse shooting percentage, 9-for-22, with seven assists and five boards. Kelly Oubre was the only one notable off the bench with 15 buckets.

Head to Head

There were three meetings this season between the Cs and the Hornets. Boston has two wins and the Hornets have one. The first game was in North Carolina, and the Cs won, 140-129 OT, the second in Boston, when Hornets got away with a win 111-102, and the most recent at TD Garden took place on February 2, with the hosts triumphing 113-107.

Prediction

The Hornets are tired and have a shortened rotation for various reasons, which is why we believe that the Cs won’t have too many troubles in posting a victory here. The spread on them is -7.5 points, but we wouldn’t touch that too much, but go with the plain victory.

Pick: Celtics win -290