NBA 2022/23, on Saturday, 03/25/2023
There’s a golden opportunity tonight for all basketball fans who are always looking for a good free bet or a looming surprise win.
For in my Celtics Pacers prediction, I make no bones about the fact that the C’s have gotten back on track. Nonetheless, the visitors from Indiana could still cause long faces in the home stands at TD Garden
I have to admit that the C’s have seen better days. Because until a few days ago, the Green and Whites lost six of eleven NBA games, which forced them to relinquish the lead in the standings.
The reason for this slight downturn certainly has to do with the drop in performance on the offensive end, which over the period of these aforementioned eleven games was only ranked 19th league-wide and thus performed “average” at best.
Al Horford is the only Celtics player who had a higher scoring rate after the All-Star Break (77.3%) than before (60.0%). The vast majority of his teammates, on the other hand, have clearly declined since the week-long break – at least until the day before yesterday!
This all changed at the Golden 1 Center. Because in my successful Kings Celtics tip, the performance explosion I anticipated occurred for the Green and Whites, who were led by an unleashed Jayson Tatum.
The team’s leader scored 36 points, his wingman Jaylen Brown another 27 and Derrick White 20, so that the clear 132-109 victory was only the logical consequence of a strongly playing title contender, who is now also dangerous on the offensive end.
The bottom line is that Boston is once again proving a sure hand both inside and outside the arc. That can be said after the victories over Wolves, Rip City and the Kings. Their own defence has been solid for weeks anyway.
The Celtics’ upcoming opponents, on the other hand, are somewhere between genius and madness. Sometimes they lose to the worst team in the NBA (Pistons) like they did last Monday, only to beat the Eastern Conference leaders (Bucks) three days later.
I just can’t figure out the Pacers’ performances. The only constant seems to be that they sleep through the first quarter, only to – sometimes at least – miraculously get back into the game.
In fact, I’m very excited about the night’s clash with the C’s. Because Indiana can certainly beat Boston on a good night. The tools to do so are there, the only question is what kind of shape they will be in this time.
McConnell is an important stabiliser in the visitors’ defence. His 4 deflections per 36 minutes of play rank him 5th out of all 244 players who have been on the floor for at least 1000 minutes this season.
Nevertheless, tonight could turn out to be an exciting match, which is much more in the sign of the offensive. After all, both franchises offered a real spectacle in a memorable match as recently as 24 February 2023.
With a 125:125 score, the game went into overtime, which the C’s won 142:138 in the end. But the resulting BOS win odds of 1.30 were not at all justified when measured against the balance of this match.
As the Celtics Pacers odds for a win by the home side are again in a similar range as a month ago, I am quite inclined to put my trust in the supposed underdog – at least as part of a handicap bet.
Because already in the last meeting Tatum and Brown made a hell of a game with 31 and 30 points each, but the Pacers still managed to push the C’s, who were playing at their upper performance limit, into overtime.
In light of the recent 139-123 win over the Bucks and yesterday’s 118-114 win over the Raptors, I can’t shake the feeling that the visitors might surprise us all.
A Celtics Pacers tip on a small sensation would be justified at least from a game theory point of view. Because the 6.00, which can be perceived via the Bwin app for a win, contains a lot of “value” in my eyes.
This gross underdog role traded on the betting markets does not do justice to the actual performance potential of the team from the state of Indiana.
Conclusion: The Celtics are definitely back, but the Pacers are getting the much higher odds, which makes me wonder.
Because Indiana, while by no means a title contender, can miraculously really beat anyone on a good night.
Not only did the Bucks experience this propensity for unexpected upsets a few days ago, but so did the C’s the last time they faced the unruly boys from Indiana State.
My Celtics Pacers prediction: Tip 2 with HC +11.5.
