The Boston Celtics will be looking to break out of a lengthening slump when they open a four-game California road trip Tuesday night as underdogs against the Golden State Warriors.
Boston suffered a 115-104 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday but hopes to turn things around against Golden State, which could be without the questionable Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala for Tuesday night’s Celtics vs. Warriors betting matchup at Oracle Arena.
With their loss to the Rockets as 2-point chalk on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, the Celtics have fallen to defeat in five of six contests and now trail the first-place Milwaukee Bucks by a double-digit margin in the Eastern Conference. In addition, the team has been outclassed during a three-game straight-up losing streak on the road, posting two losses by double-digit margins including an ugly 126-116 defeat in Chicago as 10-point favorites on Feb. 23.
As a result, the Celtics also lag eight games back of the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division standings. Not surprisingly, the team sits at a distant +750 on the odds to win the Atlantic Division but has yet to fall off the pace on the Eastern Conference championship odds, where the C’s trail the Bucks and Raptors as a short +230 wager.
However, the Celtics face a massive challenge to overcome the streakiness that has saddled them with a 14-16 SU road record this season. And Boston has been far from dominant in recent road dates with the California-based opponents it will face over the next week.
Boston dropped a 109-105 decision as a 10.5-point underdog in its last trip to Golden State in January 2018 to sink to 2-4 SU in its past six road dates with the Warriors, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
Plus, the Celtics have fared no better against the three other opponents they face on their upcoming road trip, losing SU in five of six road dates with both the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers, and dropping five of seven to the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, the Celtics will face a Warriors team also battling to overcome a recent swoon. Golden State returns home after closing out a four-game road trip with a 120-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers as 5-point chalk, but has failed to post consecutive SU wins while going 3-4 SU over its past seven outings, and has covered just twice in its past 13 overall contests.
