NBA Odds: Celtics Enter Wednesday’s Tilt With Clippers As Betting Favorites
The Boston Celtics will be looking to avoid riding a three-game losing streak into this weekend’s NBA All-Star Break when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday as 4.5-point favorites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston continued its recent mediocre play in Sunday’s ugly 121-99 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers as 5-point home chalk, and now takes a 1-3 straight-up record over its past four games into Wednesday night’s Clippers vs. Celtics betting matchup at TD Garden.
The Celtics’ recent struggles have raised serious concerns as they enter the final third of the campaign. Powered by an early-season 16-game SU win streak, Boston had sat atop the Eastern Conference standings for most of the season and enjoyed a comfortable four-game edge as recently as Jan. 16.
But the Celtics have seen that lead get steadily eroded during a middling 6-8 SU run and now find themselves trailing the red-hot Toronto Raptors, who have tallied six straight victories to overtake Boston and build a one-game lead in the East.
Despite their recent struggles, the Celtics have maintained stability on the NBA championship odds. Boston sits as a +1200 bet to claim its first NBA title since 2008, just slightly off from the +1000 odds it sported on Christmas. However, the Celtics face a tough task Wednesday against a visiting Clippers squad that has posted SU wins in six of its past eight outings.
The Clippers travel to Boston after posting a 114-101 win in Brooklyn as 4.5-point chalk on Monday and have now picked up SU wins in eight of their past 11 road dates. That run marks a major turnaround for Los Angeles, which tallied just three SU wins in its previous 14 road games, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
Los Angeles has enjoyed considerable success at the sportsbooks in road contests since early December, covering in 12 of its past 16 such outings.
The Clippers have also found success in recent dates with Boston. The Celtics claimed five-point victories in each of the Clippers’ past two visits to TD Garden, and also tallied a 113-102 win in Los Angeles as 3-point underdogs, but they have failed to record consecutive wins over the Clippers since February 2011, going 5-8 SU and 6-7 ATS in 13 meetings since.
