Old friends Marcus Smart and James Harden will meet again Tuesday night.
The Boston Celtics travel to Houston for a marquee matchup with the Rockets, who are 1-2 since trading Clint Capela and rolling with a new small-ball lineup led by Harden and Russell Westbrook.
The red-hot Celtics, who have won seven consecutive games and 10 of their last 11, again should be fully healthy after dispatching the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
Celtics-Rockets clashes have proved entertaining in the past: Smart famously got under Harden's skin during a Dec. 2017 C's win, but Houston got revenge by winning the teams' next three matchups.
Who has the edge Tuesday night? Here are our betting predictions for Celtics-Rockets, as well as two NBA locks against the spread.
(All odds provided by WestGate Superbook.)
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Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics at Houston Rockets, 9:30 p.m. ET
Moneyline: Houston's transition to small ball is a great development for the Celtics, whose best lineups are small and versatile. With the Rockets still finding their identity post-Capela, I like the Celtics (+110) in an upset.
Point Spread: Only the Thunder have a better record against the spread this season than Boston, which has covered in 31 of its 52 games. The Celtics (+2) have lost three straight in Houston but are 8-4 as road underdogs this season. They win outright and cover.
Point Total: There's plenty of offensive firepower in this game, but this matchup always seems to become a defensive battle: The under has hit in 11 of the last 14 Celtics-Rockets matchups. Give me the UNDER on a bloated 232 point total.
Darren's record picking the Celtics' moneyline, point spread and point total: 71-39-1 (64.0% success rate)
NBA Locks of the Night
San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder (-8): As mentioned above: OKC is the NBA's best team against the spread. The Spurs are on a five-game losing streak and have covered just once in that span. I'll take the home team in a comfortable victory.
Chicago Bulls (+3) at Washington Wizards: Here's your upset special of the night. The Bulls have won six in a row when playing the Wizards on the road and are 6-1 overall in the teams' last seven matchups.
Darren's record picking NBA locks against the spread: 37-36-1 (50% success rate)
Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Rockets, which begins Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live followed by tip-off at 9:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.