For the fourth time in five meetings, the Boston Celtics (18-11) find themselves as double-digit betting favorites on the NBA odds over the Phoenix Suns (7-24) for Wednesday's matchup at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The exception during that stretch came in the most recent game between the teams on November 8 when the Celtics closed as 9.5-point road favorites and failed to cover the spread in a 116-109 overtime win after rallying back from a 22-point deficit.
Boston point guard Kyrie Irving led the charge at Phoenix by scoring 18 of his game-high 39 points in the fourth quarter and OT to prevent an embarrassing loss. The Suns jumped out to a 32-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and got a team-high 38 points from Devin Booker, who finally returned to action on Saturday after missing six games with a hamstring injury.
It is no surprise that Phoenix has put together a season-high three-game winning streak with Booker back on the court since he is the team's best player. Following a 99-89 home victory against the Dallas Mavericks last Thursday, Booker has averaged 33 points in a pair of wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks, proving his value as an elite scorer.
On Monday, the Suns were actually favored by 1.5 points at sports betting sites at Madison Square Garden versus the Knicks, the first time they have closed in that role since November 21 against the Chicago Bulls, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
In fact, that was the only other time they were favored this season, but they lost 124-116 to the Bulls as 1.5-point road chalk.
Meanwhile, the Celtics have been playing much better lately, winning eight of their last nine games, with the loss coming last Saturday against the Detroit Pistons. Boston fell 113-104 at Detroit as a two-point road favorite to end the team's eight-game winning streak despite a combined 47 points from the starting backcourt of Irving and Marcus Smart. More impressively though, the Celtics covered the spread in each game of their winning streak.
Boston Celtics
As far as series trends go, Boston has won seven of the past eight meetings with Phoenix straight up. But the Suns have gone 6-0 against the spread in the last six, taking advantage of large point spreads that closed at nine points or higher in favor of the Celtics five times.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.