The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers will meet up for just the third time this season and the first time since January 22nd.
Philadelphia won (and covered) the previous two matchups, but Boston was without Jayson Tatum for both games. The Celtics will have Tatum for round 3, along with a more effective Robert Williams, but they'll also be without Evan Fournier who was ruled Tuesday morning due to health and safety protocols.
The Celtics are underdogs against the Sixers for the third time this season, although the +2 line is closer than the previous two meetings (+4.5, +5) -- -- odds provided by our partner, PointsBet Sportsbook.
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Boston struggled mightily with Joel Embiid in both of those games and had no answer defensively. We'll see if Robert Williams can do anything to change that.
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As for the latest trends related to the spread, BOS is 5-2 ATS in its last seven games. They're 14-10 ATS at home this season and 3-2 ATS as underdogs at home. PHI is just 1-4 ATS in its last five games. They're 11-12-2 ATS on the road this year, but better as a road favorite at 9-7-1 ATS.
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Boston Celtics
The most interesting trends relate to the total in this game, which is 221.5, and an argument could be made for both. The Celtics have played to the UNDER in five straight games, but they were also favored in all five of those games.
The last three times the Celtics have been underdogs, they have played to the OVER. For the season, the OVER is 12-6 when the Celtics are underdogs. On the other side, the UNDER is 5-1 over the last six games in which the Sixers have been favored.
In general, the UNDER is 8-3 over PHI last eleven games. As for the previous two matchups between the Celtics and Sixers, the OVER has hit both times.
A few more trends, courtesy of NBC SPORTS EDGE:
-The OVER is 20-5 (80.0%) in BOS's last 25 games with an Over/Under between 219.5-223.5.
-The UNDER is 16-4 (80.0%) in BOS's last 20 games as a 0 to 4 point underdog.
-The UNDER is 21-9 (70.0%) in PHI's last 30 road games as a favorite.
NBC Sports Edge's 'Game Prediction' also gives a slight edge to the Celtics ATS and a slight edge to the UNDER.