NBA Betting: New Jersey Nets at Boston Celtics

Added on Feb 16, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

Online sportsbooks will be offering plenty of action in both hoops and hockey on Wednesday and one of the more interesting looking matchups on the NBA lines board pits the Boston Celtics against the New Jersey Nets. The Celtics are in a virtual dead heat with Miami atop the Eastern Conference standings, while New Jersey has improved dramatically from last year’s dismal performance.

New Jersey Nets at Boston Celtics
February 16, 2011 4:35 PM Pacific

Obviously the Celtics have significantly more talent than the Nets and if Boston wanted to ‘circle’ this game they could mop up the TD BankNorth Garden floor with New Jersey. There’s a good deal to suggest, however, that this won’t be the case. Boston is a veteran team that is notorious for ‘picking their spots’ during the regular season. That was much of the basis for our winning play on the Celtics against the Heat on Sunday. It’s also the basis for our play on New Jersey here in Boston’s next game–and last before the All Star break.

Celtics have shown a tendency to ‘phone in’ performances against losing teams for the past several seasons. They’re 11-15 ATS at home and 17-24 ATS as a favorite this year. As a favorite in this price range (-9′ to -12 points) they’re 0-3 ATS this season and 8-23 ATS since 2008! They’re 3-0 SU and 24-17 SU in those games which clearly suggests a team that will do ‘just enough’ to win games against bad teams. The Nets have struggled in some pointspread situations this season, but as a correspondingly priced underdog they’re 4-2 ATS this season and 16-5 ATS since 2008 despite SU records of 0-6 this year and 3-18 since 2008. Celtics have won 9 of the last 10 SU against the Nets, but New Jersey is 6-4 ATS in those games including 4-1 ATS in Boston. We don’t expect the outright upset, but we do expect a margin much closer than you’d expect in this type of game.

Bet New Jersey Nets +11′ over Boston Celtics