Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 4/2/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics

Date: Friday, April 2, 2021

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (+7.5)

TD Garden is the venue where and the Boston Celtics (23-25) will play the Houston Rockets (13-34) on Friday. The odds on this matchup have Boston as 7.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 224.5.

The Houston Rockets played the Brooklyn Nets and took a loss by a final of 120-108 in their last game. Houston wrapped up the contest with a 50.0% field goal percentage (39 of 78) and converted 13 out of their 40 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the Rockets knocked down 17 of 24 shots for a percentage of 70.8%. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they earned 31 with 6 of them being offensive. They also doled out 22 assists in this contest as well as forcing 11 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Regarding the defense, Houston allowed the other team to shoot 48.9% from the field on 44 of 90 shooting. Brooklyn dished out 25 dimes and had 6 steals for this contest. On top of that, Brooklyn grabbed 45 rebounds (12 offensive, 33 defensive) and added 8 blocked shots. Brooklyn finished shooting 100.0% at the free throw line by converting 19 of 19 attempts. They knocked down 13 of their 36 tries from distance.

Kevin Porter is someone who was a major factor in this matchup. He racked up 20 points on 9 out of 16 shooting. He saw the court for 31:11 mins and also grabbed 2 rebounds. Porter finished shooting 56.3% from the field and also dished out 6 assists. An additional guy that was a contributor in the matchup for the Rockets was Danuel House. He grabbed 5 rebounds in 30:07 min played on the night. He finished the game shooting 50.0% from the floor in the matchup by connecting on 5-of-10 (18 points). When the game finished, House accounted for 1 assist.

Houston enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 13-34 on the campaign. They are averaging 107.3 pts per game (24th in the league) while shooting 43.7% from the field. The Rockets are hitting 33.0% on shots beyond the perimeter (627 of 1,899) and 74.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Houston is pulling down 42.1 boards per game and has earned 1,062 assists for the year, which is 27th in the league in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 14.3 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 20.0 fouls per contest. On the defensive end, the Rockets have forced 15.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.6 personal fouls. The Rockets defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 46.8% (717 of 923) and they relinquish 48.2 boards per contest as a squad. They rank 15th in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,147 conceded for the year. They relinquish 37.0% on 3-pointers while they are 23rd in the league in opponents PPG (113.6).

When they last played, the Boston Celtics walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 113-108 against the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics were able to collect 28 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards totaling 36 for the matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while recording 11 steals in this matchup. The Mavericks were called for 18 personal fouls in the game which got the Celtics to the charity stripe for a total of 23 tries. They were able to convert 19 of the free throw tries for a rate of 82.6%. Regarding shots from downtown, Boston made 11 of their 47 attempts (23.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Celtics ended up shooting 39 out of 94 from the floor which gave them a rate of 41.5%. The Celtics permitted the Mavericks to bury 38 out of their 77 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 49.4% for the contest. They shot 48.7% from 3-point land by connecting on 19 of 39 and walked away from this one shooting 18 of 25 from the free throw line (72.0%). When talking about attacking the glass, Boston permitted Dallas to pull down 43 overall (4 on the offensive glass).

Jayson Tatum ended up being important for the Celtics in this matchup. He converted 10 out of 24 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 41.7%, and had 9 rebounds. Tatum earned 25 points in his 38:04 mins on the hardwood and had 3 assists for this contest. Another guy who was a determining factor for Boston was Jaylen Brown. He came away with 1 assist in 36:38 minutes played, and he shot 9 out of 17 from the floor. Brown ended the game having shot 52.9% from the floor while also totaling 24 points and 4 rebounds.

Boston has a record of 23-25 for the campaign. The Celtics are committing 20.6 fouls per contest and they connect on 76.2% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 22.9 times per contest (24th in the NBA) and they cough up possession 13.8 times per contest. Boston has accounted for 5,386 points on the season (112.2 per contest) and they pull in 43.9 boards per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Celtics are connecting on 46.8% from the floor, which is ranked 13th in the league. The Celtics are ranked 15th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 111.3. The Boston defense gives up 37.3% on three-point shots (622 of 1,666) and opponents are making 78.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 23.5 dimes and 42.5 boards per contest, which is ranked 6th and 8th in basketball. They are able to force 14.4 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.7% from the field (17th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston (-7.5)

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