basketball | Sreda, Januar 11, 2023 11:36 AM (Revised at: Sreda, Januar 11, 2023 11:45 AM)

Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet: Rainy Night in Boston

Milan Stanojic

Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet: Wednesday, January 11th

It was a close win on Monday night for us as the Chicago Bulls got it done ATS by just half a point. For tonight, I’m hoping for a much more comfortable dub and I’m looking at the Celtics and Pelicans to make it happen. The Pelicans are plagued with injuries at the moment and the bookies expect the hosts to make quick work of Willie Green’s squad.

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Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Preview
Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet

Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Preview

Thu, Jan 12th 00:30 (UK time)

The Boston Celtics are still sitting at the throne of the Eastern Conference with a 29-12 record, having won 7 of their last 10 games and riding a 3-game winning streak. They are coming off that 107-99 win against the Bulls on Monday that earned us almost 4 units of profit. I’d like to thank Grant Williams for missing that one free throw that would have put our bet to sleep. You are a scholar and a gentleman, sir. Anyway, the Celtics have been one of the best home sides this season with a record of 16-5, but what’s more, 65% of those games have seen a lot of points.

It’s not actually going to rain in Boston tonight according to the weather forecast, but it will in TD Garden. The Celtics have been the second-highest scoring team in the NBA when playing on home turf, averaging 121.8 points per game and boasting a league-high offensive rating of 120.6. Although their defensive rating has been respectable this year, they are still allowing an average of 112.6 points per game, and this number has increased to 116.6 over their last 5 games, ranking them 19th in the league in that regard.

The New Orleans Pelicans are one of the biggest surprises of the year (not to me, I knew this was coming), and are currently sitting in 3rd place in the Western Conference with 25 wins and 16 losses. They have won 6 of their last 10 games and are coming off a 112-132 road win against the Washington Wizards. With BI and Zion out, CJ and Jonas stepped up, going for 34 and 27 points respectively and the Pels finished with a very high-scoring tally. Although I’m hoping for another high-scoring affair, I’m expecting around 115 points from them.

The Pelicans have been solid on both sides of the floor this year, ranking in the top 5 in both offensive and defensive rating. They’ve proven multiple times this year that they can both score and win games without their star due, but I’m afraid they won’t have enough tonight. They have allowed an average of 115 points per game over their last 5, and you can bet your entire bankroll that the Celtics will be able to get above the 120 mark. 73.7% of the Pelicans’ away games have gone over the total points mark, and I’m expecting this to be the case tonight as well.

Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet

No matter what actually happens, this is the perfect time to back the over, and I don’t care that Ingram and Zion are out. The Celtics are a scoring powerhouse at home and the Pelicans have enough to get to at least 112 points. A lot of their games this year have gone over in this exact situation and I don’t expect them to suddenly start playing defence when they haven’t done so in recent games. I’m taking the Over at 1.97 odds.