San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Point Guard Tony Parker will lead the San Antonio Spurs to the TD Bank Garden to take on the East leading Boston Celtics on Wednesday night at 7:30 PM ET. The Spurs come in with the best record in the NBA at 29-5 1st in the Southwest while the Celtics have the 2nd best at 26-7 1st in the Atlantic just a ½ game ahead of the Miami Heat. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has led the Spurs to 4 NBA Championships centered on defense but this season they are the 4th highest scoring team in the league averaging over 105 points per game but their defense has fallen to 15th allowing nearly 98 points per game. Boston is allowing just 90 points per game first in the league and 3rd in opponents field goal percentage allowed at .433%. The Spurs are playing on back to back nights giving up a season high 129 points in a loss to the Knicks on Tuesday. “If we score 115 points, I expect to win,” Popovich sad. “Our defense was pathetic. It was our worst defense of the year. Nothing else tricky about it. I asked them if they wouldn’t mind maybe playing a little bit better (Wednesday). They said they’d think about it,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.” The odds makers at Bodog have the Boston Celtics a -2 point favorite at home against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs are coming off a loss 129-115 on the road to the New York Knicks in a game where Coach Popovich pulled his starts with 3 minutes left down just 10 points as he was frustrated with their overall play. Tony Parker led the Spurs scoring with 26 points 6 assists and 2 boards while DeJuan Blair poured in 17 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Manu Ginobili had 15 points, Tim Duncan 14, and Richard Jefferson and Grant hill rounded out the double figure scorers with 13 apiece. Vegas odds makers have the San Antonio Spurs +900 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Celtics have won 2 in a row most recently 96-93 over the Timberwolves at home to move to 17-15-1 ATS for the season. Forward Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23 points and 6 rebounds after some urging from coach Doc Rivers to be more aggressive offensively. “I thought Paul in the first half tried way too hard to get everybody involved,” Rivers said. “I told Paul, `You don’t need to be the playmaker. We need you to score.” Point Guard Rajon Rondo continued his stellar play with 16 assists and 4 rebounds but only 6 points. The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston’s last 6 games at home. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 191 1/2 points combined of the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics.
I predict a Celtic win at home!
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.