Don’t miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Hornets, which tips off tonight at 7 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike & Scal have the call of the game at 8 p.m. You can also stream the game through the MyTeams App.
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Good morning. The Boston Celtics are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The 5-1 Celtics jumped to the top of the East ladder Wednesday night thanks to losses by the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers.
They've been trickier to peg for bettors, though, going 3-2 against the spread. But that won't stop us from putting our best foot forward.
Boston has a must-see matchup with the Hornets on Thursday night as Kemba Walker returns to Charlotte. As always, we have you "covered" with our moneyline, point spread and point total picks, as well as two NBA locks against the spread.
(All odds provided by WestGate Superbook.)
Boston Celtics at Charlotte Hornets, 8 p.m. ET
Boston Celtics
Moneyline: Can you see Walker doing anything but balling in his return to Charlotte? Jaylen Brown, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams also are expected to play, giving the Celtics (-275) the depth they'll need to win one for Kemba on an emotional night.
Point Spread: I actually think this will be a close game. The pesky Hornets have won three in a row and are 4-0 against the spread in their last four games, while Terry Rozier will be eager to show the C's who they gave up. Boston wins a tight one, but the Hornets (+6.5) cover.
Point Total: See above. Walker and Rozier both are playing against their former teams, one of the Celtics' primary scorers (Brown) is back, and these teams have combined for more than 218 points in five consecutive meetings. So, yeah. I'm going OVER the 218 point total.
Darren's record picking the Celtics' moneyline, point spread and point total: 9-5-1
NBA Locks of the Night
Miami Heat (+1.5) at Phoenix Suns: Have the Suns won three in a row? Yes. Are they good? No. We'll go with the law of averages and say Phoenix isn't starting the season 5-0 against the spread at home. The Heat take this battle of "hot" NBA teams.
Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Clippers (-5.5): It's all about load management, folks. The Clippers are on the second night of a back-to-back, but Kawhi Leonard sat out the first leg, so they should have enough juice to defeat a Blazers team that hasn't played since Monday and may be a little rusty.
Darren's record picking NBA locks against the spread: 6-4
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