Nets vs Celtics NBA Week 3 Betting Lines and Pick

The NBA’s In-Season Tournament action resumes on Friday night around the league and the first game of an ESPN doubleheader features Brooklyn at Boston, although the Nets could be quite short-handed, which certainly would change the NBA odds. 2023 NBA Expert Analysis Brooklyn vs. Boston | MyBookie Sportsbook NBA Regular Season: October 24, 2023, to April 14, 2024 | Week 3

How to Bet Nets at Celtics NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: TD Garden
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Celtics -8 (total 226)

Season Series

The teams met in Brooklyn on Nov. 4 and the Celtics won 124-114 – that was not part of the In-Season Tournament. Jayson Tatum scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the C’s. He scored his 10,000th career point in the second quarter and the 25-year-old became the youngest player in franchise history to reach the milestone. The previous record holder was Antoine Walker, who was 26. Jaylen Brown had 23 points for the Celtics, and Kristaps Porzingis added 22. Cam Thomas led the Nets with 27. At home, Boston leads the all-time series 73-33 but did lose the last matchup at home to Brooklyn in the 2022-23 season.

Why Bet on Brooklyn?

The Nets snapped a two-game skid with a 100-93 home upset of the Clippers on Wednesday. Day’Ron Sharpe recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sharpe has mostly been a non-factor with Nic Claxton sidelined, but he had a solid performance on Wednesday. He hauled in a team-high-tying rebound total while posting his first double-double of the season off the bench. Sharpe has recorded a double-digit rebound total twice this season while scoring 10 or more points in four contests.

Mikal Bridges was held to just 10 points but he did contribute eight boards, seven assists, two steals and three blocks. Bridges is fifth in the league in fourth quarter points scored.

Good young player Cam Thomas had 14 points but sprained his ankle and will miss two weeks. He was injured when he stepped on Clippers forward P.J. Tucker’s foot in the third quarter. The third-year player is averaging a team-high 26.9 points with 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists through eight games (seven starts) this season. Thomas is third in the league in total points scored in isolation (39), trailing only Luka Doncic (69) and Jayson Tatum (46). Thomas is third in points scored off drives per game (13.3), trailing only De’Aaron Fox (16.7) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (13.4).

Lonnie Walker should see an uptick in playing time and probably start. Walker is ninth in the league in offensive rating (122.6). He’s averaging 16.3 ppg, ranking third in the league in bench ppg (min. five games off the bench), trailing only Malcolm Brogdon (18.2 ppg) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (18.0 ppg). Walker IV is tied for the league lead in double digit scoring games off the bench (seven).

Ben Simmons, Claxton and Cam Johnson also missed Wednesday’s game injured. Both Simmons and Johnson, who hasn’t played yet this season, are on track to play Friday. Simmons is second in the league in assist ratio (.430), trailing only Delon Wright (.439) and is fifth in the league in passes/game (60.7).

The Nets scored a season-low 100 points but held the Clippers to an opponent season-low 93 points on Wednesday. Brooklyn was 9-1 last season when holding its opponent under 100 points. The Nets held the Clippers to .396 FG % and just .222 (8-of-36) from 3-point range. Brooklyn was 11-1 last season when holding its opponent under .400 FG %.

A win here would improve Brooklyn’s record to 2-0 in the Group Play stage of the In-Season Tournament and give Brooklyn a league-best 4-1 road record to begin the season (min. 4 road games played). The only team with more than three road wins thus far this season is Golden State (5).

Bet Nets to Win
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Why Bet on Boston?

The Celtics lost their second game in a row Wednesday, 106-103 in Philadelphia – although there’s certainly no shame in that or in Monday’s OT loss at Minnesota. Jayson Tatum was held to 16 points vs. the Sixers on 6-for-14 shooting but did have 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Tatum led all players in rebounds and assists while finishing as the lone Celtics player with a double-double. Tatum’s 15 boards marked his highest total of the young season, having hauled in 10 or more rebounds in four of his seven outings.

Tatum matched the third-most rebounds in his career and grabbed at least 15 boards for the fifth time in 446 career games. He leads the NBA in points off turnovers per game (6.3), and he also ranks seventh in total defensive rebounds (64) and 12th in points scored (199).

Fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown had only 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Brown matched his lowest scoring total of the season and is hitting just 25.9 percent of his three-point attempts over his last four appearances. However, he’s still shooting 35.3 percent from long distance overall. Kristaps Porzingis had a game-high 29 points, his second-highest point total of the season. Porzingis has been dominant for the Celtics, tallying at least 15 points and five rebounds in six of his seven appearances.

Derrick White returned to the court after missing two games for the first time in nearly two years and finished with 19 points (6-18 FG, 4-4 FT), four rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block. Among league guards, Jrue Holiday ranks fourth in total blocks this season (8) and sixth in rebounds (51) while averaging a career-high 7.3 rebounds.

Holiday was the primary Joel Embiid defender on nearly a third of the MVP’s total offensive possessions Wednesday. Holiday allowed just 2 points over 22.3 partial possessions as Embiid finished 1-of-3 shooting with three turnovers against Holiday. His strength and basketball IQ help negate the size he gives up.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla ripped the officiating in the wake of Boston’s loss Wednesday. Specifically, Mazzulla was unhappy with how Philadelphia was packing the paint defensively, which the Celtics coach believed should have been grounds for defensive three seconds.

“The one thing we have to teach our bigs is to stay in the paint on defense and not move and we just got to be able to do that and protect the rim,” Mazzulla said sarcastically. “There is a rule called [defensive three seconds], but I don’t know if it’s a rule anymore. But I have to look it up.”

After their offense started hot in the first five games, the Celtics shot just 39.1 percent against Minnesota and then 40 percent on Wednesday. They shot 30.2 percent from deep over the two games. But Mazzulla seemed to like the process on both ends even though the results weren’t there.

“It’s perspective,” Mazzulla told reporters. “I thought actually this was one of our better played games from an execution and a mindset standpoint.”

Bet Celtics to Win
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NBA Expert Prediction

Celtics 122, Nets 110

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