Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 12/27/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics

Date: Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Houston Rockets are traveling to TD Garden on Tuesday where they will go up against the Boston Celtics.

The Rockets faced the Mavericks and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 112-106 in their last game. Houston walked away from the game having earned a 45.7% field goal percentage (37 out of 81) and made 8 of their 26 3-pointers. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Rockets knocked down 24 of 28 attempts for a percentage of 85.7%. When it comes to getting rebounds, they earned 45 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 26 dimes for the contest as well as forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and getting 9 steals. In terms of defense, Houston let their opponent shoot 45.0% from the field on 36 of 80 shooting. Dallas dished out 20 dimes and had 10 steals for the matchup. Moreover, Dallas pulled down 34 rebounds (7 offensive, 27 defensive) and added 3 rejections. Dallas ended up shooting 88.9% from the free throw line by making 24 of their 27 tries. They also made 16 out of their 44 attempts from distance. With respect to fouls, the Rockets left the arena with 21 while the Mavericks recorded 21 fouls.

Jabari Smith Jr. is one guy who was a contributor in this matchup. Smith Jr. shot 58.8% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists. He played for 34 minutes and also pulled down 10 boards. He ended up finishing with 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting.

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Houston enters this one with a record of 9-23 on the year. They average 109.4 points per contest (28th in the league) while hitting 44.3% from the floor. The Rockets are connecting on 33.0% on 3-pointers (361 of 1,095) and 77.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Houston is collecting 46.8 boards per game and has accounted for 687 assists on the year, which is 30th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 17.3 times per game and as a squad they are committing 20.6 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Rockets are able to force 14.9 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 22.3 fouls. They are relinquishing 36.5% from 3-point land and they are 21st in the league in opponents PPG (115.3). The Rockets are giving up a field goal percentage of 47.4% (1,334 of 2,812) and they concede 41.7 boards per contest as a basketball team. They rank 12th in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 815 conceded for the season.

The last time they took the court, the Celtics walked away with a victory by a final of 139-118 when they played the Bucks. The Celtics recorded 30 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for this game. They also turned the ball over 11 times, while earning 9 steals in the matchup. The Bucks committed 16 fouls for this contest which took the Celtics to the free throw line for a total of 25 tries. They were able to knock down 20 of the free throws for a rate of 80.0%. Concerning shooting from beyond the arc, Boston buried 19 out of 39 tries (48.7%). At the conclusion of this game, the Celtics finished shooting 50 for 85 from the field which gave them a rate of 58.8%. The Celtics allowed the Bucks to convert 42 of 84 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 50.0% in this game. They shot 36.1% from beyond the arc by connecting on 13 out of 36 and finished the contest at 21 of 27 at the free throw line (77.8%). When it comes to team rebounding, Boston allowed Milwaukee to pull down 39 in all (8 offensive).

Jayson Tatum was important for the Celtics for the matchup. Tatum had 41 points in his 36 mins of playing time and had 5 assists in the game. He converted 14 of 22 in the matchup for a rate of 63.6%, and had 7 rebounds.

Boston has a win-loss mark of 24-10 so far this season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Celtics are connecting on 47.9% from the floor, which ranks them 8th in basketball. Boston has totaled 4,036 pts for the campaign (118.7 per game) and they average 43.6 rebounds per contest. They are assisting teammates 26.4 times per game (9th in basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 13.8 times per contest. The Celtics commit 19.6 personal fouls every game while shooting 82.7% from the free throw line.

The Celtics on defense are ranked 13th in basketball in PPG allowed with 112.4. They are forcing their opponents into 13.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 46.7% from the floor (13th in the NBA). The Boston defense allows 35.1% on 3-point attempts (384 of 1,093) and opponents are knocking down 78.5% of their foul shots. They relinquish 22.0 assists and 44.4 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 1st and 24th in basketball.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Houston

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