Houston Rockets at Boston Celtics 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head coach Rick Adelman will lead the Houston Rockets to the TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics on Monday night at 7:30 PM ET. The Rockets are on a 5 game losing skid and enter the game at 16-21 5th in the Southwest while the Celtics had a four game winning streak snapped with a loss on Saturday but still come in at 28-8 1st in the Atlantic. “We’ve got to play through it, fight through it,” forward Shane Battier told the team’s official website. “Winston Churchill said when you’re going through hell, keep going. Hopefully we can turn it around, win a few games and get the confidence back.”
The Celtics are anticipation the return of All-Star center Kevin Garnett this week coming back from a calf injury. The Celtics were out of sync on Saturday but home to cure those ills when they return home where they are 16-2 on the season. “We had a lot of one-pass shooting,” said Paul Pierce, who had 21 points and three of Boston’s season-low 12 assists against the Bulls. “There’s really no explanation. That’s really not the way we play.” The odds makers at Bodog have the Boston Celtics a -8 1/2 point favorite at home against the Houston Rockets.
The Celtics are coming off a 90-79 road loss to the Chicago Bulls leaving them at 18-17-1 ATS for the season. Paul Pierce led the Celts with 21 points 4 rebounds and 3 assists while Ray Allen poured in 19 points with 4 boards. Rajon Rondo added 13 points 5 rebounds and 8 dimes while Glenn Davis scored 11 points and pulled down 3 rebounds. The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Boston’s last 13 games when playing Houston. Vegas odds makers have the Boston Celtics +380 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Rockets 5 game skid continued most recently 103-99 at home to the Utah Jazz leaving them at 17-18-2 ATS for the season. Luis Scola led the Rockets with 24 points and 10 boards while Kenyon Martin added 20 points 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Houston is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Boston and the total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston’s last 6 games on the road. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 198 1/2 points combined of the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics.
I predict the Rockets cover on the road!
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.