NBA Odds: Even Shorthanded Celtics Are Covering Spread During Streak

If you were one of the many bettors who placed a wager on the Toronto Raptors given that the visiting Boston Celtics were playing without four starters, after traveling across the boarder, and on the second night of a back-to-back, well, Monday’s result served as a difficult-to-imagine blow.

The shorthanded Celtics — without Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and the injured Robert Williams — still managed to force overtime behind Marcus Smart’s 28 points and cover the eight-point spread in a 115-112 defeat.

Eighty-four percent of the spread handle, or the total money wagered, was on Toronto to cover the eight points, according to WynnBet SportsBook. Boston did have some backing with 60% of spread bets on the surging Celtics.

It’s worthy to note the line closed at eight points after opening with Toronto as a three-point home favorite. The five-point swing came after Boston ruled out 80% of its starting lineup Monday. So, if you happened to jump on Raptors’ opening line, you didn’t lose any money but you also didn’t win any in the push.

Given the circumstances, it was a rather remarkable job by the road underdogs as they relied on 21 minutes from Sam Hauser and six points from Luke Kornet. And the C’s certainly continued to stay in the good graces of Boston-aligned bettors.

The Celtics now have covered the spread in six of its last seven games while Monday’s overtime loss snapped a six-game win streak and forced Boston to fall to 24-5 in its last 29 games. Boston now is 40-34-3 against the spread this season.