San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics 3/24/19 NBA Pick
The Spurs are continuing their road trip in this game, but this time instead of having to travel to Houston, the Spurs have to go all the way to Boston. That could be a problem for the Spurs as the opening game of the road trip on the short trip to Houston was a disaster that seen the Spurs offense shut down to only 105 points and the defense gave up 111 points. With the Celtics, the team is coming in after dropping 3 games straight, but the downside is 2 of them were on the road and that was before the Celtics came back in the game here.
San Antonio Spurs Preview
The Spurs are coming in after losing to the Rockets to open the road series. The Spurs were led in the scoring by Bryn Forbes who ended up getting 20 points in the game. Rudy Gay was able to lead the Spurs in rebounding, with a total of 9 boards, but the downside is all of them were on the defensive side of the ball, which did not allow for any second chance shots. The defense of the Spurs also allowed James Harden to post 61 points on his own against them as well.
DeMar DeRozan is the player who has led the Spurs in scoring with 21.5 points a game and he has been able to get a total of 6.1 assist a game. With the Spurs offense, the team has been able to get a total of 111.7 points a game, but has been able to get a total of 24.5 assist a game. The defense for the Spurs has allowed 110.3 points per game on the season so far. LaMarcus Aldridge is the player who has led the Spurs in rebounding at 8.9 a game out of the teams 44.6 rebounds a game.
Boston Celtics Preview
The Celtics as mentioned are coming in with 3 straight losses. The last loss for the Celtics was a 7 points loss to the Hornets. That game saw the Celtics defense get lost on the way to the court as they allowed 124 points and the offense could only respond with 117 points in the game. Kyrie Irving led the Celtics in the scoring with 31 points in the game. Unlike the Spurs who could not get a lot of second-chance shots, Marcus Morris helped the Celtics out in that regard with 9 boards of which 3 of them were on the offensive side of the ball.
Irving has been the leading scorer most of the season for the Celtics with 23.9 points a game and also 7 assist a game. The Celtics offense has been able to get a total of 112.7 points a game being scored, but the team has managed to get 26.4 assist a game. The defense for the Celtics has allowed 107.7 points a game on the season. Al Horford has been the leader when it comes to cleaning the glass for the Celtics with only 6.7 boards a game, but the team has been able to only get 44.6 rebounds a game.
Spurs at Celtics Line: Boston Celtics -2 O/U 220.5
My Pick: Boston Celtics -2
Okay, I have to say I do like the Celtics in this game and not because they are due a win. Actually, it is because the Spurs are sitting 10 games under the five hundred mark on the road and the offense has struggled to 110.4 points a game on the road, but the defense gives up 115 points a game on average. The Celtics have a tendency to have a surge offensively at home to 115 points a game, but the defense typically gives up an entire point less. I look for the Celtics to cover the spread in this game with the final score reaching a score of 114-108.
