NBA Pick: Suns +10 (-108) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
There’s really only one good game around the NBA on Friday, and it’s a national TV matchup with the Phoenix Suns visiting the Boston Celtics. Which side of the 10-point spread has the best value at the best US sports betting sites? We also have a total play.
Read on for our NBA breakdown, including the latest NBA odds.
Phoenix Suns vs. Boston Celtics
Friday, February 03, 2023 – 07:30 PM EST at TD Garden
What You Should Know
This writer actually thought the Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics would meet in the 2022 NBA Finals. The Celtics did their part in the East, but the Suns were upset in the Western Conference semifinals by Dallas after having the best overall record in the NBA during the regular season.
Even though Phoenix’s record isn’t great right now, it certainly could meet Boston in the 2023 Finals as they square off Friday night in Beantown. NBA TV has the national telecast.
This will be the last time they meet barring a Finals matchup as on Dec. 7 in the desert, the Celtics were 2-point underdogs at Massachusetts betting sites but spanked Phoenix 125-98. The Celtics took a 31-21 lead after one quarter as Phoenix missed all eight three-pointers, and it only went downhill from there as Boston led by as many as 45.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each finished with 25 points and neither even played 30 minutes. The Suns actually had a healthy Devin Booker then (more on him below), but he was minus-40 in 25 minutes. Phoenix shot just 25% from the field.
The Suns are 10-4 ATS in the past 14 meetings.
Still No Devin Booker for Suns
Let’s start with an update on All-Star Devin Booker – well, he wasn’t named an All-Star this year simply because he hasn’t played since Christmas due to a groin injury. There was some scuttlebutt that he might return this week, but now the target is next Tuesday in Brooklyn.
Booker, averaging 27.1 ppg, has been ramping up his on-court work and will be on the road trip that begins in Boston. The Suns are 8-11 without Booker in this stretch and 9-14 overall.
While the Suns played terribly immediately after Booker was lost on Christmas, they had been much better of late before laying a giant egg Wednesday in a 132-100 home loss to Atlanta. The Hawks never trailed and led by as many as 43. They made 52 of 91 shots (57.1%), including 19 of 33 (57.6%) on 3-pointers, and would have beaten any team in the league shooting like that.
Phoenix was second in the NBA in defensive rating for January, so that was really unusual. The Suns looked a bit tired in hitting 4-for-28 from deep. Chris Paul was 0-for-5 in the first half and ended up 1-for-6 for three points. He wasn’t named an All-Star this year, either.
“You have games like that but I thought the start of the game if you just go to the first possession, we couldn’t find Dejounte (Murray) for the first 3 of the game,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. “We had five guys on one side of the court, one guy by their bench. That was pretty much the game dictator. They were a lot faster than us, especially in transition, and we just couldn’t make a shot tonight for whatever reason.”
What to Expect From the Backcourt?
Mikal Bridges was a lone bright spot with 23 points, his 10th consecutive game with 15+ points. Over the past 10 games, he’s averaging 23.0 points on 48.3% shooting along with 5.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds.
Phoenix does remain thin in the backcourt with Cameron Payne (right foot sprain) and Landry Shamet (right foot soreness) also still out. Payne usually keeps the second team afloat when Paul rests. Swingman Jae Crowder has yet to play this season and will be traded by next Thursday’s deadline.
The Suns are 4-1 ATS on the NBA picks in the past five after a loss.
Celtics off Blowout Win
NBA-best Boston had been playing somewhat inconsistent of late but put everything together on Wednesday in smashing Brooklyn 139-96 - it was 46-16 after one quarter. The C’s hit their first eight three-pointers and shot 62.1% overall during the first quarter.
The 46 points tied for the team’s highest-scoring quarter in the last 30 years. Overall, Boston hit 26 three-pointers, a record at TD Garden and one shy of a franchise record overall. It certainly seemed to help that the team had three days off ahead of facing the Nets.
“I thought we chose to be aggressive on both ends of the floor,” interim head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So we weren’t reactive; we were proactive just in our approach to both ends.”
Players' Performance
Eastern Conference All-Star starter Jayson Tatum had 31 points and a plus-46 rating in just 29 minutes. Jaylen Brown added 26 points and was named an All-Star reserve on Thursday.
Brown and Tatum are two of only four players in the league averaging at least 27.0 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting better than 32.0% from the three-point line this season. Center Robert Williams returned from a one-game absence and finished with a season-high 16 points to go along with nine rebounds.
Boston remains without guard and reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. Makes no sense to push him back before the All-Star break. Boston has the guard depth to overcome Smart’s injury with guys like Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, and Payton Pritchard. Brogdon has scored 20+ points off the bench in 10 games this season for the fourth-most such games of any reserve in the NBA.
Final Picks
The Celtics are still just 1-6 ATS in their past seven overall and 2-5 ATS in their previous seven at home. They’ll certainly win this game, but 10 points are too many.
Simulations I have run have Boston winning in the ballpark of 118-110. For Phoenix residents looking to bet on this game, you can do it at our top Arizona betting sites.
NBA Pick: Suns +10 (-108) at Heritage Sports
NBA Pick: Over 226 (-110) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
