Boston is navigating its current road trip very well, having already vanquished the first three foes. The most recent was only 24 hours ago in Memphis, where the Celtics took down the Grizzlies in a tight affair, 102-100. As for the Hornets, they look like they always do, which isn’t saying anything positive. On Saturday night they hosted the New York Knicks are were downed 122-108.

The spread is rather large for this game, with the NBA odds pinning the Celtics at -9.5.

Celtics vs. Hornets NBA Betting Odds

To say that the Hornets don’t play the Celtics well isn’t a grandiose statement. Unfortunately for Charlotte in its supporters, they don’t play many teams well. Boston carries an 8-2 edge over the past 10 encounters with the North Carolina-based franchise. This includes a six-game winning streak, five of which were decided by more than 10 points. Nothing is impossible, but the Hornets have their work cut out for them.

The weight of expectations must be bearing down on the Celtics because their resplendent 11-2 record in the Atlantic Division has not translated to as many covers as betters would like. Boston is only 6-5-2 on ATS on the year, but some of the figures they’ve had to contend with were enormous. Case in point, they were a -12.5 favourite on Sunday night in Memphis.

Charlotte’s efforts versus the spread have been slightly superior to those in the outright standings, but not by much. The club is 5-7 ATS, and have not covered three of their past four or four of their last six. Consider they were recently +8 and +10.5 underdogs recently yet couldn’t handle either.

Boston Celtics

They’re not all going to be easy. Some nights, especially when the odds are stacked against a weaker team, the Celtics are going to face lower-level clubs that demonstrate a ton of moxie.

On Sunday evening the Celtics were in Memphis to play a Grizzlies team, sadly without Marcus Smart in the lineup (foot injury). That didn’t stop the Grizzlies from clawing their way back into the match after an early deficit. What looked like a potential blowout ended up as one of the better games of the weekend. Boston wasn’t its usual ruthless self from beyond the arc (38.7 per cent) but they did very well in the paint, which is surely what the club expects now that they have Kristaps Porzingis (26 points, eight boards).

Substitute Sam Hauser went wild from three, hitting five of his seven shots – he only took eight total shots!. Desmond Bane, credit to him, willed Memphis to win even though they couldn’t pull it off, what with Porzingis blocking the game-tying shot as time expired.

Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets find themselves in a disappointingly familiar spot. At 3-9 (1-6 at home) this could be another long season for them. Their biggest issue is defence. They rank in the bottom five for points conceded per match, overall field goal efficiency against, and three-point efficiency against.

Those deficiencies were on display on Saturday at home to the Knicks. New York hit 50 per cent of their shots, which is incredible, not to mention a very solid 43 per cent from beyond the arc. Even one of Charlotte’s relative strengths, rebounding, failed them as New York corralled 47 balls off the glass to their 36. Defensively, they had no answer for Jalen Brunson, who wiggled and fired his way to 32 points. LaMelo Ball is a consistent offensive weapon and he poured in a game-high 34 points. Second-round pick Brandon Miller had a nice night, tallying 29 points off 10-for-15 shooting.

Despite what positives the team can take away from an offensive perspective, they have a world of issues preventing other sides from scoring on them, and now the Celtics come to town…

NBA Prediction: Who Will Win Celtics vs. Hornets?

CELTICS

Away

120

HORNETS

Home

112

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