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The Boston Celtics vs. Golden State Warriors line was set at Boston -5 with a total of 195.5 at Sportsbook.com Tuesday night.
It may be hard to believe, but the last time Boston won in Oakland, Kevin Garnett was in Minnesota, Ray Allen was in Seattle and Rajon Rondo was in high school. The Warriors have beaten the Celtics at home six straight times, with Boston’s last win coming in December 2003. And Golden State enters Tuesday night on a bit of a roll.
The Warriors have won three in a row, SU and ATS. They’re a team that relies heavily on perimeter shooting, and in February they’ve shot it great. So far in February, they rank in the NBA’s top 10 in field-goal percentage (47.5%) and three-point shooting (38.5%). Leading scorer Monta Ellis continues to play at another level in Oracle Arena, where he averages 28.4 PPG on 48.3% shooting from the field and 41.1% shooting from three. While Stephen Curry has taken more of a secondary role this season, he’s averaging 15.0 PPG on 52.7% shooting over the past eight games, while swingman Reggie Williams has been torching the nets, hitting 58.2% of his shots and 57.1% of his threes during that stretch.
The Celtics have been a bit Jekyll and Hyde of late, with their recent win over the Heat overshadowing their inconsistency in losing home games to the Mavs and Lakers and a road game in Charlotte. They did fare well in their most recent West Coast swing, going 3-1 SU (2-2 ATS), beating the Lakers, Blazers and Kings. The aging C’s didn’t get to enjoy the All-Star break, with their four stars participating in Sunday’s All-Star Game. Paul Pierce has been dealing with a nagging foot injury (he’s probable for Tuesday night) that could be responsible for his recent shooting slump (40.2% from the field, 14.8% from three over the past seven games). Only Ray Allen (47.2% from three) has been shooting it particularly well in February, as the Celtics have averaged just 91.0 PPG this month.
Sportsbook.com just put up a “Who will win a NBA Championship 1st” prop between LeBron James & Carmelo Anthony, who was traded to New York on Monday night. LBJ is a 1/5 favorite, while ‘Melo will payout 3/1 to you
