The Boston Celtics pay a visit to the Smoothie King Center to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
The Boston Celtics have been in a rut as they’ve lost four of their last five games and they will be hoping to bounce back after falling to the Mavericks in a 113-104 road win loss on Saturday. Jayson Tatum led the team with 21 points, Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart each scored 19 points while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 16 points on seven of nine shooting. As a team, the Celtics shot 47 percent from the field and 10 of 28 from the 3-point line but they haven’t been able to consistently replicate their effort from last season and their frustrations were on display on Saturday when Brown and Smart both received technical fouls on two separate plays.
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Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have won six of their last 10 games but they will be hoping to break a three-game losing streak after falling to the Wizards in a 124-114 road loss on Saturday. Julius Randle led the team with 29 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, Nikola Mirotic added 24 points, E’Twaun Moore scored 19 points while Jrue Holiday chipped in with 16 points and nine assists. As a team, the Pelicans shot 47 percent from the field and 11 of 31 from the 3-point line as they kept pace with the Wizards for most of the game until the fourth quarter where they were outscored by 34-23. Anthony Davis sat out the game with a strained right hip and will be a game-time decision for Monday’s game.
Looking at the betting trends, the Celtics are 5-17 ATS in their last 22 road games, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games following a loss and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall. The Pelicans are 6-1 ATS in their last seven Monday games, 15-7 ATS in their last 22 home games and 0-8 ATS in their last eight games following a loss.
Head to head, the under is 13-6 in the last 19 meetings, the underdog is 10-3 ATS in the last 13 meetings and the Celtics are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings.
The Pelicans have lost their last three games with Anthony Davis on the sidelines and he’s currently listed as a game-time decision which isn’t ideal. If Davis isn’t available, Randle and Holiday will surely put up big numbers to pick up the slack offensively in his absence but the Pelicans don’t have anyone who can defend like him. The Celtics haven’t been anywhere near their best so I’m not surprised they’re slight underdogs on the road, but I like their chances here if the Pelicans are shorthanded again.