Celtics vs Suns Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

The NBA championship still takes place in Denver.

At least that’s how most people feel after the Boston Celtics failed in their quest to defeat the Nuggets on Thursday night. Boston played well enough to beat 90% of NBA teams, but troubling lapses in crunch time and a draw from Jayson Tatum saw them lose the season series 0-2 to the defending champions.

The Celtics will look to bounce back from their first two-game losing streak of the season tonight as they travel to the Footprint Center to take on the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns are still without Devin Booker and, as such, are big dogs tonight. NBA Odds. My NBA picks and predictions For Celtics vs. Suns, bettors believe Boston will be highly motivated to pull off a convincing win against Phoenix.

Celtics vs. Suns odds

Celtics vs Suns Predictions

After winning 11 times in a row, suddenly the Boston Celtics have lost two consecutive games for the first time this season. But there’s no shame in being beaten by the best, and I think in many ways the bad takeaway from their thriller against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night is that they wouldn’t have a chance in a future series.

Additionally, it would be foolish to view these two Celtics losses as a new lower bar for their regular season play. They were caught napping against the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers, then found themselves three open corners away from a last-minute lead against Denver.

The Celtics’ formula and resume remain best in class. If they have a few stumbles, they only appear against the best in the Association, a level that the Phoenix Suns can’t really consider themselves part of it.

At least, not this version of the Suns. Phoenix is ​​a tough time when the three Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker are on the field together. But when one of them is absent, they become intrigued.

Booker’s status became questionable Friday, so he can play. But oddsmakers aren’t listing props for him, and the Suns can’t afford to rush Booker and lose him again. It’s also the first of a back-to-back series, with Sunday’s game potentially being an easier reintroduction to high-intensity basketball against the Charlotte Hornets.

If Book is eliminated, the Suns only have three offensive players that opposing teams really fear: KD, Beal and Grayson Allen. Everyone can be, to varying degrees, helped, deceived or downright ignored.

The Celtics may be second only to the Golden State Warriors when it comes to punishing their opponents for playing against offensive non-entities. They are also among the best in the NBA at creating and exploiting mismatches.

The Suns too often have to trade offense for defense (or vice versa) when they are missing one of their key drivers. Jrue Vacations, Derrick White, Jayson TatumAnd Jaylen Brown are all savvy, impactful defenders, they can shift from 1-4 (or 1-5 in Jrue’s case) and intimidate smaller or weaker defenders.

Joe Mazzulla should be able to come up with a game plan to maximize Boston’s talent while minimizing the impact of the Suns’ best players.

All of that would be enough to defeat the Celtics on Saturday, but there’s also an obvious psychological element at play here. Thursday was the first time all season the Celtics have lost two games in a row, and they will be desperate not to let this slide reach three.

They will have ruminated on this loss for a day and a half straight and will come out hoping to pounce on the Suns before the end of the first quarter. Scary things happen when they reach that level of motivation (see: Golden State’s 140-88 demolition).

My best bet: Celtics -5.5 (-110 on bet365)

Parlay Celtics vs Suns in the same game

Celtics -5.5

Celtics Team Total Over 117.5

Jaylen Brown 5+ points in the first quarter

It would be easy to overreact to the Celtics’ offensive shutdown against Denver, but they shot 28.9 percent from three. If they have even one normal bad shooting night, they win comfortably, and against Phoenix they will have a much easier way to score inside the arc.

While the Celtics can’t be thrilled with their overall performance against the Nuggets, Brown demonstrated once again why he is so valuable at the highest levels of competition.

While it’s often recalled that Tatum struggled in the 2022 NBA Finals, what seems lost in time is that Brown was exceptional for almost the entire series.

Brown is a nightmare for most teams, strong like an Aaron Gordon, but faster and a much better shooter. Going big to defend him allows him to look sharp on the outside, but going small and he’ll post up and score inside or draw a foul.

Brown is known for his hot starts, and that’s been even more the case as of late. He is the ninth-leading first-quarter scorer in the NBA over the last 10 games, averaging 7.9 points per game. I expect him to lead the charge for the Celtics early in this one.

Learn how to bet on the same game with these helpful tips and strategies.

Celtics vs Suns Spread and Over/Under Analysis

Saturday’s gap was between -4.5 and -6 in favor of Boston, but it was -5.5 almost everywhere.

If Booker plays, the Suns are more dangerous, but still much worse than Boston. I think the odds of Booker not playing and the odds of the Celtics still winning convincingly are much higher than what a -5.5 spread suggests.

Part of the reason is that in addition to being a brutal team in the fourth quarter, Phoenix is ​​also miserable against the home spread.

Phoenix is ​​just 12-21-1 ATS at home this season. Only the 10-win Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards are worse.

The Celtics’ total at the Suns opened as high as 228, but at the time of writing, most sportsbooks had it listed at 227.5.

Even accounting for a relatively poor performance against Denver, the Celtics’ offensive rating over the past two weeks is still 129.1, the best in the Association in that time and about seven points better than their record the season.

The problem for Phoenix is ​​that they have decent defenders, but they have to eliminate a lot of perimeter players who can be abused by the Celtics’ stronger wings like Holiday and Brown. They also play hard-working centers who are susceptible to the play of Kristaps Porzingis. Josh Okogie would be their best option to slow down Tatum or Brown, but he is still out of action with an abdominal injury.

Only a few teams have the personnel to make things better for the Celtics, and even a fully healthy Phoenix isn’t one of them. The Suns have been on a hot defensive streak lately, but they don’t have the right personnel mix to slow down Boston’s outside attack.

The Celtics could expand the court and try to outplay the Celtics, staying small with Durant at the five for long stretches. This group is difficult for anyone to guard, including Boston, especially if Tatum or Brown, probable and questionable, respectively, are limited.

Celtics vs Suns betting trend to know

The Suns are 12-21-1 ATS at home this season. Find more NBA Betting Trends for the Celtics against the Suns.

Celtics vs. Suns Game Info

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