The Utah Jazz (45-27) head to Beantown Wednesday to play the Boston Celtics (45-28) at the TD Garden with the tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Jazz vs. Celtics odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
Utah had its 3-game winning streak — 3-0 against the spread (ATS) — snapped Monday in a 114-106 road loss at the Brooklyn Nets as 2-point favorites.
Boston has won 9 of its last 10 (7-3 ATS) including four straight victories as part of a 4-game Western Conference road swing.
The Jazz beat the Celtics a fourth straight time Dec. 3 (3-1 ATS), 137-130 in Utah as 8-point home favorites.
Jazz at Celtics odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:04 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Jazz +165 (bet $100 to win $165) | Celtics -205 (bet $205 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Jazz +4.5 (-105) | Celtics -4.5 (-122)
- Over/Under: 215.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Jazz at Celtics key injuries
Jazz
- SF Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) out
Celtics
- PG Marcus Smart (illness) probable
[tipico]
Jazz at Celtics odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Celtics 114, Jazz 104
Money line
PASS even though the Celtics (-205) should win by margin since the Jazz (+165) are an NBA-worst 1-5 SU as an underdog with a minus-7.7 margin of victory.
Also, Boston is the most efficient squad versus teams with a top-10 net efficiency (plus-4.9 adjusted net rating), according to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG).
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Against the spread
BET the CELTICS -4.5 (-122) for 1 unit because they play much better against strong competition than the Jazz.
For instance, Boston is are 21-12-1 ATS versus teams with a winning record while Utah is 9-19-1 ATS versus winning teams and 4-8-1 ATS on the road in those spots.
Furthermore, the Celtics have the best adjusted net rating versus teams in the top-10 of net efficiency with a plus-6.3 ATS margin, per CTG.
On top of that, Utah has a couple of weaknesses that Boston can attack. The Jazz can be careless with the rock — 20th in adjusted offensive turnover rate (TOV%) — and 19th in defensive field goal percentage versus mid-range attempts, per CTG.
Celtics All-Star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown love to operate out of iso-sets and in the mid-range so I think either, or both of them, could be in for a big game. Plus Boston has a top-10 defensive TOV%.
Finally, the market is hammering the Under and the oddsmakers have lowered the total 7 points from the look-ahead. The market projecting a lower-scoring affair gives me more confidence in Boston since its defense is world-beaters.
BET the CELTICS -4.5 (-122).
Over/Under
PASS since I “lean” to the Under 215.5 (-110) but we’d be getting by far the worst of the number since this total was set at 223.5 on the look-ahead.
For what it’s worth, the Jazz are 32-38-2 O/U and the Celtics are 33-38-2 O/U, but these teams have a combined 35-27 O/U versus teams with a winning record.
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