NBA Betting Picks March 5 – Boston Celtics at Golden State Warriors
The Boston Celtics are hoping a four-game California road trip is what they need to come together. The Cs came out of the All-Star break and promptly lost four in a row.
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They stopped their season-long skid with a win over Washington, but a loss to the Rockets on Sunday sent them packing for the West Coast as losers in five of their last six games. Many viewed this matchup as a Finals preview and the Golden State Warriors are holding up their end of the deal, leading the Western Conference by a slim margin over the Nuggets.
Boston Celtics at Golden State Warriors
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 5, 2019, 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
Opening NBA Odds: Golden State Warriors -8
Celtics at Warriors TV Coverage: TNT
Odds Analysis
Even with their recent struggles the Celtics are in the middle of the East playoff pack and are in no danger of missing the postseason. They are within 2.5 games of fourth-place Philadelphia and just three games back of Indiana for the No. 3 spot, and there is time to get things straightened out. At some point soon you expect Boston to get going. They have the same group that reached the Eastern Conference Final the last two seasons after all.
If the Celtics are going to use the trip as a galvanizing moment, they better play better than they have on the road. Their last excursion didn’t go so well with three straight losses, including a 10-point setback to the Bulls. Overall the Cs are just 14-16 away from the Garden.
The Warriors are getting ready for the postseason by resting players on their recent road trip. There were losses to Miami and Orlando, but the Dubs finished the trip with a win over the Sixers to split the four games. It’s a balancing act that Steve Kerr is familiar with having done it the past several seasons. At 44-19, the Warriors lead the West and have a showdown with their nearest competitor Denver coming up after this one.
Celtics
Things were much different the last time these two played. The Celtics were in the middle of a strong run with their loss to the Dubs their only setback in a stretch of 11 games. As good as everything was going about a month ago, it all unraveled quickly. First there was a loss to the Lakers after blowing a big lead. Then, there was a loss to the Clippers when Boston blew a bigger lead.
Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for the Celtics since the break. They’ve been one of the better defensive clubs this season, but when they limit opponents they have trouble scoring. And when the offense is producing, there are breakdowns defensively. They showed some fight on Sunday, rallying to within a single digit of the Rockets after falling behind by 28 points. They faltered at the end and lost for the fifth time in their last six games.
Warriors
Winning the West isn’t a priority for the Warriors, but they’ll probably end up taking it just because they are better than everyone else. The Dubs gave the rest of the conference a glimmer of hope by losing two in a row on their recent road trip. It took a ridiculous shot from Dwyane Wade to send the Dubs to a loss in Miami with DeMarcus Cousins getting his “load management” day. Orlando got a win the next day with Kevin Durant resting. With Klay Thompson resting a sore knee, the Warriors concluded the trip with a win over the Sixers behind 34 points from KD and 28 from Stephen Curry.
Those two help the Warriors boast the league’s highest scoring team at 118.6 points per game, and you have to marvel at the efficiency. Curry scores 28.4 points per game and Durant 27.6 to rank third and fourth respectively in the NBA. The two combined for 57 points in Golden State’s 115-111 win in Boston in late January.
Bet Celtics at Warriors at BookMaker.eu
Playing the Warriors on the road is not the ideal matchup for a club that desperately needs a victory. But, as the saying goes, it is what it is. Given their recent troubles it would be easy to fade the Celtics, but keep in mind this is a group that has won in the past and still has the fifth-best record in the East. Boston has typically been strong on the road and they’ve split the last six meetings with the Dubs, winning twice at Oracle with all six games falling below the closing total. Kyrie has had some of his finest moments against the Warriors, and he will get the Cs back on track with an upset road victory.
NBA Score Prediction: Celtics 112, Warriors 109
