Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 1/8/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics

Date: Friday, January 8, 2021

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

Odds/Point Spread: Washington (+5.5)

The Washington Wizards (2-6) go to TD Garden on Friday where they'll take on the Boston Celtics (6-3). Boston opens this matchup as 5.5-point favorites. The total opens at 234.5.

The Washington Wizards faced the Philadelphia 76ers and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 141-136 in their last contest. Washington ended the game having earned a 50.0% field goal percentage (47 out of 94) and made 16 of their 37 3-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Wizards made 26 of their 35 shots for a rate of 74.3%. In relation to getting rebounds, they compiled a total of 35 with 9 of them being offensive. They also dished out 27 assists for the contest while earning 9 steals and 2 rejections. Pertaining to defense, Washington allowed the other team to shoot 61.7% from the field on 50 out of 81 shooting. Philadelphia earned 33 assists and had 9 steals for the game. Furthurmore, the 76ers pulled down 35 rebounds (1 offensive, 34 defensive) and earned 6 rejections. Philadelphia walked away from this one shooting 69.7% at the charity stripe by burying 23 of 33 attempts. They also knocked down 18 of their 29 attempts from downtown.

Bradley Beal is one guy who came through in this matchup. He had 60 points on 20 of 35 shooting. He saw the court for 38:15 mins and also collected 7 rebounds. Beal finished the contest at 57.1% from the field and also earned 5 assists. An additional guy that came through in this game for the Wizards was Russell Westbrook. He pulled down 8 rebounds and also accounted for 12 assists. He ended up going 44.4% from the field in this matchup by shooting 8-of-18 (20 points). Overall, Westbrook was on the court for 38:57 min.

Washington comes into this one with a win-loss mark of 2-6 for the season. The Wizards are shooting 38.5% on three-point attempts (102 of 265) and 74.2% from the charity stripe. They average 120.8 points per outing (2nd in the NBA) while hitting 47.8% from the floor. They cough up possession 14.8 times per game and as a squad they are committing 25.0 fouls per game. As a unit, Washington is collecting 42.6 boards per game and has earned 224 dimes on the campaign, which is 2nd in basketball in terms of passing the ball. On defense, the Wizards have forced 16.4 turnovers every game and they draw 22.1 personal fouls. The Wizards defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 49.7% (131 of 177) and they relinquish 44.5 rebounds per game as a group. They are 22nd in the league in allowing assists to their opponents with 201 conceded this season. They surrender 40.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 30th in the league in PPG allowed (122.9).

In their last game, the Boston Celtics took home the win by a final score of 107-105 when they faced the Miami Heat. The Celtics were able to collect 37 defensive rebounds and 16 offensive boards totaling 53 for this game. They also rejected 5 attempts while recording 7 steals for the contest. The Heat committed 15 fouls in the matchup which got the Celtics to the free throw line for a total of 12 tries. They were able to bury 11 of the free throw tries for a rate of 91.7%. When discussing shooting from 3-point land, Boston buried 12 of 35 tries (34.3%). At the conclusion of this game, the Celtics finished 42 for 99 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.4%. The Celtics allowed the Heat to knock down 35 of their 81 tries from the field which had them shooting 43.2% for this contest. They finished 36.1% from 3-point land via 13 out of 36 and ended up going 22 out of 26 from the free throw line (84.6%). When talking about rebounding, Boston allowed Miami to pull down 42 in all (6 on the offensive glass).

Jayson Tatum ended up being a major contributor for the Celtics for the contest. He converted 10 of 21 in this game for a field goal rate of 47.6%, which got him 27 points. Tatum grabbed 5 boards in his 37:32 minutes of playing time and had 4 dimes in this game. Someone else that ended being a contributor for Boston was Jaylen Brown. He accumulated 21 points in 36:46 mins on the court via 8 of 23 shooting for the matchup. Brown walked away from this one going 34.8% from the field in addition to totaling 5 assists and 12 total rebounds.

Boston has a record of 6-3 this year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Celtics are shooting 48.0% from the floor, which ranks 6th in the league. Boston has totaled 1,014 pts this season (112.7 per contest) and they grab 44.8 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 23.4 times per game (19th in basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 15.1 times per contest. The Celtics are responsible for committing 21.3 fouls every game while shooting 75.3% from the charity stripe. The Celtics defensively are ranked 18th in the NBA in points per game surrendered with 111.7. They allow 23.2 assists and 41.4 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 11th and 4th in the league. The Boston defense gives up 36.8% on 3-point attempts (110 of 299) and opponents are connecting on 79.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are able to force 14.8 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.8% from the floor (21st in the league).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston (-5.5)

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