Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers
December 28th, 2010 at 7:05 PM EST
Opening Line:  Boston -4.5
Current Line:  Boston -5.5
Opening Total:  190
Current Total:  191.5
Opening Moneyline:  Boston -240 / Indiana +200
Current Moneyline:  Boston -230 / Indiana +190

Boston was riding a 14 game winning streak when they came to face the newly reconstructed Orlando Magic.  They had been fine without Rondo, until that night, when the Magic shocked the Celtics in a late game surge that had Orlando on top by 8 when it was all said and done.

“I don’t know if it did today, but it will, let’s be honest,” coach Doc Rivers told NBA.com regarding whether injuries played a factor in the loss to the Magic. “But listen, nobody is going to cry for us.”

The injuries may or may not play a factor tonight.  Boston has won 3 straight and 9 of their last 11 against the Pacers, and their last victory against the Pacers came without Rondo, too.  Indiana’s best two players, Hibbert and Granger, both struggled last game against the Celtics, scoring 36 combined points but shooting just 30.2% from the floor.

Some betting trends:  The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston’s past 6 games.  They have won 14 of their past 15 and 6 of their past 7 on the road.  They are 2-4 ATS in their last 6 against Indiana.  Indiana is 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games and the total has gone UNDER in 6 of Indiana’s past 8 games.  It has also gone UNDER in 8 of their last 12 at home.  The Pacers aer 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 home games against Boston.

Some key matchups to watch:

Shaquille O’Neal vs. Roy Hibbert

There was a time in Shaq’s career that this matchup would have been laughable, but the joking 7’1″ center is no longer the player he once was obviously, and Hibbert will be a handful for him.  Hibbert is one of the few players in the league that has the size to frustrate Shaq and though he struggled last game against the Celtics, he had a good game last game against the Grizzlies, going for 14 points and 10 rebounds.  He’s cooled off after a red hot start to the season and is now averaging 14.0 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game.  But don’t underestimate Shaq.  Sometimes he comes out looking like the Shaq of old and he’s backed up by one of the best backup centers in the league in Glen Big Baby Davis.  Davis has the speed advantage against Hibbert and could get Roy into foul trouble if he’s able to weave his way in towards the basket.

Paul Pierce vs. Danny Granger

It’s easy to say Granger is the better player of these two, but that would be underestimating the effect that playing on a better team has on Pierce’s statistics.  Indeed, there is much more to take into account than per game averages in this matchup.  Pierce is a decent defender, but against Granger he has been very good.  For his career against Boston, Granger is averaging only 15.7 points per game, a bit below his career average of 17.9 and well below the 25 per game he has averaged in the prior two seasons.  Pierce will seek to force Granger into bad shots, as he is prone to taking them in trying to do too much for the Pacers, who lack scoring punch.

NBA Oddsmakers have set the spread pretty low considering Boston’s outright domiance against the Pacers.  Look for this game to be a low scoring match between two strong defensive teams.  Indiana is 8-7 at home this year but Boston is one of the best road teams in the league at 10-4