The Boston Celtics have locked up the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into Friday night’s matchup with the tanking Charlotte Hornets.
The Hornets have been on an impressive losing streak, dropping five straight games and nine of their last 10 to remain in the mix for one of the three worst records in the league this season.
Boston sat most of its top rotation players on Wednesday night, but it has only listed Jaylen Brown (out) on the injury report for this matchup.
Here’s a look at the odds, players to watch in the prop market and my prediction for Friday’s Eastern Conference matchup.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
Hornets Injury Report
Celtics Injury Report
Note: These props suggestions were written before odds were released and are based on past player performance.
Boston Celtics Best NBA Prop Bet
With Jaylen Brown ruled out, Derrick White could be in for a big game for the C’s on Friday night. In his Celtics career, White has averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 40 games with Brown out of the lineup.
This season, White is averaging 16.4 points per game while shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Even though Boston has one of the best offenses in the NBA, these are actually two of the best UNDER teams in the league.
Charlotte has hit the UNDER more than any other team in the NBA (48-32) while the C’s have done so in 44 of their 80 games (third-most in the league).
Even though Brown is the only one on Boston’s injury report, there’s a chance that it could struggle again after putting up just 76 points in a loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. I’ts hard to imagine that the C’s play their starters regular rotation minutes in this game.
On the Charlotte side, it hasn’t scored more than 110 points in nine of its last 10 matchups. I expect this to be a low-scoring affair on Friday night.
Pick: UNDER 211.5 (-110 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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