Boston Celtics (45-21) vs Portland Trail Blazers (31-34)
Game Info: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 7:30 pm (TD Garden)
Betting Odds: Boston Celtics -10.5 -- Over/Under: Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: NBC Sports Boston, ROOT SPORTS PLUS Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now! 
The Portland Trail Blazers invade the TD Garden to do battle with the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been in poor form as they’ve lost five of their last eight games overall, but they will be gunning for a third straight victory after beating the Pistons in a 110-104 road win on Monday. Damian Lillard led the way with a triple-double of 31 points with 13 rebounds and 12 assists, Jerami Grant added 26 points while Cam Reddish chipped in with 13 points, six rebounds and eight assists. As a team, the Trail Blazers shot 48 percent from the field and 15 of 33 from the 3-point line as they jumped all over the Pistons with 31 points in the first quarter to take an early double-digit lead, before they made another push in the third quarter to lead by as many as 19 points.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics have been in a rut as they’ve lost four of their last five games overall and they will be hoping to arrest a three-game skid after falling just short to the Cavaliers in a 118-114 overtime road loss on Monday. Jaylen Brown led the team with 32 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, Malcolm Brogdon added 24 points and five assists off the bench while Derrick White chipped in with 12 points. As a team, the Celtics shot just 41 percent from the field and 16 of 48 from the 3-point line as they squandered a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, before they went ice-cold and managed just five points in overtime to allow the Cavaliers to slip away in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Trail Blazers are 4-12 ATS in their last 16 road games, 0-4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team above .600. The Celtics are 0-4 ATS in their last four games playing on one days rest and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the over is 6-0 in the last six meetings overall and the Trail Blazers are 3-0-1 ATS in the last four meetings in Boston.
The Trail Blazers are still missing Anfernee Simons and they have Jusuf Nurkic listed as questionable, while the Celtics are keeping an eye on Payton Pritchard who is questionable with ankle soreness. The Trail Blazers are finally starting to build some momentum with a couple of wins on the trot, but they struggled to put away the Pistons in their last outing, so I can’t feel too confident about them in this one. The Celtics are clearly playing below their best at the moment, but I think they will take care of business in this one after suffering consecutive overtime losses.
Peter’s Pick Boston -10.5
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
Mitch's Take...
