Phoenix Suns vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 3/14/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Phoenix Suns vs Boston Celtics

Date: Thursday, March 14, 2024

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics (51-14) will try to beat the Phoenix Suns (38-27) at TD Garden on Thursday.

The Suns stepped onto the hardwood against the Cavaliers and went home with a win by a final score of 117-111 in their last game. Phoenix wrapped up the game with a 54.8% field goal percentage (46 out of 84) and made 12 of their 32 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Suns converted 13 of their 19 tries for a rate of 68.4%. When it comes to rebounding, they collected a total of 42 with 12 of them being offensive. They also dished out 23 assists for this contest while creating 12 turnovers and earning 8 steals. With respect to the defense, Phoenix allowed the other team to shoot 47.6% from the field on 40 of 84 shooting. Cleveland earned 30 assists and had 9 steals in this matchup. Additionally, Cleveland collected 37 rebounds (10 offensive, 27 defensive) and had 6 rejections. Cleveland walked away from this one shooting 84.2% when shooting free throws by burying 16 of 19 tries. They converted 15 of 46 shots from 3-point land. In the matter of fouls, the Suns ended up walking away with 18 and the Cavaliers had 18 fouls.

Kevin Durant is someone who played a role for the game. Durant finished 53.8% from the field and also distributed 6 dimes. He was on the court for 39 minutes played and totaled 8 rebounds. He racked up 37 points on 14 out of 26 shooting.

Get all of our NBA Picks Today

Phoenix steps onto the hardwood with a record of 38-27 so far this year. They average 117.0 pts per contest (11th in the league) while going 49.3% from the floor. The Suns are shooting 37.6% from downtown (780 of 2,072) and 80.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Phoenix is grabbing 44.0 boards per game and is sitting with 1,722 assists this year, which is 16th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 14.9 times per game and as a basketball team they are committing 18.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Suns are able to force 12.8 turnovers every game and they draw 20.7 personal fouls. They concede 36.3% on shots from downtown and they rank 16th in the league in PPG allowed (114.3). The Suns defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 46.3% (2,748 of 5,929) and they concede 41.7 rebounds per game as a group. They currently rank 11th in the NBA in allowing assists to their opponents with 1,697 relinquished on the season.

For their last game, the Celtics went home victorious with a score of 123-107 when they played the Jazz. The Celtics recorded 32 defensive boards and 14 offensive rebounds totaling 46 for this game. They also turned it over 8 times, while recording 5 steals for this game. The Jazz earned 18 fouls for this contest which got the Celtics to the charity stripe for a total of 19 shots. They were able to make 17 of them for a clip of 89.5%. With respect to shots from beyond the arc, Boston made 20 of their 49 attempts (40.8%). When the final whistle blew, the Celtics walked away from this one shooting 43 out of 92 from the floor which had them shooting 46.7%. The Celtics allowed the Jazz to bury 41 out of their 86 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 47.7% for this game. They finished 46.9% from 3-point land by shooting 15 out of 32 and ended up shooting 10 of 11 from the free throw line (90.9%). In relation to how they rebounded, Boston allowed Utah to collect 38 in all (9 on the offensive glass).

Jayson Tatum ended up being important for the Celtics for the contest. Tatum scored 38 points in his 34 minutes of playing time and had 2 dimes for the matchup. He made 13 of 25 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 52.0%, and had 6 rebounds.

Boston has a record of 51-14 for the campaign. The Celtics commit 16.7 fouls per contest and they connect on 81.0% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 26.5 times per game (15th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.2 times per game. Boston has accumulated 7,851 points so far this season (120.8 per game) and they pull down 47.1 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the Celtics are hitting on 48.5% from the field, which ranks 10th in the NBA.

The Boston defense allows 34.8% on 3-pointers (839 of 2,414) and their opponents are making 76.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 24.8 assists and 43.4 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 5th and 15th in the NBA. The Celtics defensively are ranked 4th in basketball in PPG given up with 109.6. They have forced 11.7 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.9% from the floor (2nd in basketball).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Phoenix

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here