NBA: Boston Celtics vs. Golden State Warriors Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics travel to Bay Area for a meeting with the Golden State Warriors. Upon hearing the names of these two sides, the majority of fans get chills, but once looking at their current record, that sensation is quickly gone. Both the Celtics and the Warriors are barely above .500, which is something pretty unexpected. The C’s had problems with COVID-19 and are now without Marcus Smart, who will have to miss some time due to a calf injury. On the other side, the Dub Nation looks for a propper formula that would provide them with consistency, but for now, they are not even near the same.

Preview

Boston Celtics (10-8, -165) lost the previous two games, against the San Antonio Spurs on the road, 110-106, and vs. LA Lakers in TD Garden, 96-95. The latest loss against the purple and gold was very frustrating because C’s had everything in their hands, yet Kemba Walker missed a game-winner.

Now, we risk being hated for this opinion, but that is something we need to get off our chest. Walker is not a clutch player, and he will never be. He is a great player but will never become a superstar, despite all the hype surrounding him. We saw that on numerous occasions last year, and be sure we will witness more of those cases in the future.

Boston is Jayson Tatum’s and Jaylen Brown’s team, and it is a massive mistake of the board for trying to squeeze in one more “superstar” besides these two guys. If they kept Terry Rozier, everything would be different. Brown took everything on his back during the problematic start, and the athletic guard is currently the 8th scorer in the NBA with 27.1 points, with Tatum being just outside the top ten, with 26.8 buckets.

Golden State Warriors (11-9, +135) lost in Phoenix, but bounced back immediately, defeating the Detroit Pistons in the next match. At the moment, Steve Kerr’s side has four consecutive victories at home and is slowly finding the rhythm when appearing at Chase Center.

Steph Curry is the guy who runs things in GSW, with 27.7 buckets, and 6.1 assists. His contribution is consistent and was never questioned. On the other side, Kelly Oubre Jr. is still going up and down, not developing the proper chemistry with the teammates.

The same could be said for Andrew Wiggins, regardless of his 17.9 points. Why do we claim this? Well, these two guys have 3.5 assists combined, which is ridiculous once playing in Golden State. Overall, Curry and Draymond Green are the only two players with more than three dimes per game.

Head to Head Matches

Celtics won both matches last year, the one at home, 119-104, and the other in California, 105-100.

Prediction

We favor the Warriors in this one, mostly due to the Celtics’ shaky performances on the road. Brad Stevens’ boys are 5-5 away from home now, and are coming to San Francisco, where Golden State usually wins games. Also, Boston had a much tougher schedule, having to travel a lot over the past 10 days, while the Warriors spent most of their time at home.