Free NBA Picks: Oklahoma City Thunder at Boston Celtics

Oklahoma City Thunder at Boston Celtics
Friday, 11/19/10, 7:00 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Boston -7.5
Current Betting Line: Boston -6.5
Opening Total: 201
Current Total: 200

Boston Celtics guard Paul Pierce is looking to sweep the Thunder in the 2010-11 series

Oklahoma City enters Friday’s contest against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden off two impressive wins over Western Conference foes. The Thunder started its win streak with a 115-108 road win against Utah and followed it up with a 116-99 blowout win at home over the Rockets. “I thought the last couple of games we picked it up defensively,” head coach Scott Brooks said. “Utah was making some good shots and they are a very talented team, but the hustle was the major factor.” The team is focusing on trying to gain some revenge from an earlier season loss to tonight’s opponent as this will close out the 2010-11 series between the two teams. Oklahoma City is 13-8 ATS as a road underdog of 6.5 to 9 points the last three years and the NBA lines page has them just making that range.

The Thunder really played a team game in its win over the Rockets, getting a combined 40 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists from Eric Maynor, James Harden, D.J. White and Nick Collison. “Coach told us before the game that we needed 20 assists as a team or else he would meet us on the plane,” said Maynor. “We got 26 assists. I think he should tell us that every game.” Oklahoma City is 3-1 versus the Eastern Conference this year, including a 1-0 mark on the road, picking up a 105-104 win at Detroit in the second game of the season.

Boston posted its ninth victory of the season in easy fashion with a dominating 114-83 home win against the Washington Wizards. The Celtics led by as many as 37 points with the opposition missing its rookie point guard and the team shot a combined 65.8 percent from the floor. “We put extra emphasis on that,” said forward Paul Pierce about the team’s home record this year. “We have a lot of price in protecting our home. We know we didn’t play as well at home last year as we did in previous years.” Boston started a previous four-game road trip with a 92-83 win over Oklahoma City on November 7, with the bench providing 33 points of support. The team is 7-4 ATS this season, but 0-2 as a home favorite of 6.5 to 9 points.

The Celtics captured the 2009-10 series by a 3-1 margin, led by Pierce scoring 20 points per game and shooting an astounding 60 percent from beyond the arc. Point guard Rajon Rondo was also a star, adding 14.3 points and 11.3 assists to go along with 3.0 steals per game. Expect more of the same from this combination, especially Pierce, who has hit 39 of 64 shots (61 percent) in his last four games.

Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Thunder are 21-8 ATS on the road versus a team with a winning home record, while the Celtics are 7-2 ATS in the last nine meetings in Boston.