Portland Trail Blazers vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 3/8/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Boston Celtics

Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Portland Trail Blazers are headed to TD Garden on Wednesday where they will compete against the Boston Celtics.

The Trail Blazers faced off with the Pistons and went home with a win by a final score of 110-104 in their last contest. In relation to personal fouls, the Trail Blazers ended up with 17 and the Pistons had 21 personal fouls. They made 10 out of their 32 tries from 3-point land. Detroit ended up going 70.0% from the charity stripe by making 14 of their 20 attempts. On top of that, Detroit grabbed 52 rebounds (16 offensive, 36 defensive) and got 6 blocked shots. Detroit earned 30 dimes and had 9 steals in the matchup. In relation to defense, Portland allowed their opponent to shoot 46.5% from the field on 40 of 86 shooting. They also distributed 28 dimes for this contest while forcing 16 turnovers and earning 7 steals. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they earned 38 with 5 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Trail Blazers converted 19 of their 25 attempts for a percentage of 76.0%. Portland ended having earned a 48.7% FG percentage (38 out of 78) and made 15 of their 33 three-point shots.

Damian Lillard is a player who was a contributor in the game. He recorded 31 points on 10 of 28 shooting. He played for 38 mins played and also collected 13 rebounds. Lillard walked away from this one shooting 35.7% from the floor and earned 12 assists.

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Portland heads into this matchup with a record of 31-34 on the season. They average 114.9 points per outing (15th in the league) while shooting 48.1% from the floor. The Trail Blazers are connecting on 37.5% on three-point shots (859 of 2,292) and 80.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Portland is snagging 41.1 rebounds per game and has racked up 1,573 assists this season, which ranks 21st in the league in terms of passing. They turn it over 14.6 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 20.4 fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Trail Blazers have forced 13.4 turnovers per game while drawing 21.3 fouls. They are giving up 37.0% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 19th in the league in PPG allowed (115.6). The Trail Blazers defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 48.7% (2,761 of 5,670) and they concede 41.8 rebounds per contest as a group. They currently rank 26th in basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,706 surrendered for the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the Celtics went home defeated by a final of 118-114 when they played the Cavaliers. When discussing how they attacked the glass, Boston allowed Cleveland to get 58 in all (16 offensive). They wrapped up this game 35.3% from downtown by going 12 of 34 and ended up shooting 20 of 25 from the free throw line (80.0%). The Celtics allowed the Cavaliers to make 43 out of 96 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.8% for the matchup. When the final whistle was blown, the Celtics ended up shooting 42 out of 101 from the field which gave them a rate of 41.6%. In terms of shots from distance, Boston made 16 out of their 48 tries (33.3%). They were able to convert 14 of the free throw tries for a rate of 66.7%. The Cavaliers earned 20 personal fouls for the contest which took the Celtics to the charity stripe for a total of 21 attempts. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while getting 5 steals for the game. The Celtics earned 37 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive boards totaling 52 for this contest.

Jaylen Brown ended up being a factor for the Celtics in this matchup. He buried 12 of 26 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 46.2%, and accounted for 13 rebounds. Brown scored 32 points in his 45 minutes on the court and tallied 9 dimes for the contest.

Boston has a win-loss mark of 45-21 this season. As an offensive team, the Celtics are connecting on 47.3% from the field, which ranks them 15th in the league. Boston has totaled 7,765 pts for the year (117.7 per game) and they snag 45.3 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 26.3 times per contest (7th in the league) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.6 times per game. The Celtics are responsible for committing 19.2 fouls every game and they connect on 82.1% from the free throw line.

The Boston defense concedes 35.4% on three-point shots (777 of 2,193) and opponents are making 77.2% of their foul shots. They have conceded 22.9 dimes and 43.8 rebounds every game, which is ranked 2nd and 19th in the NBA. The Celtics on the defensive end are ranked 9th in the NBA in points per game surrendered with 112.5. They are forcing their opponents into 12.7 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.7% from the field (8th in basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston

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