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Hornets vs. Celtics: Don't Expect High Scoring From Charlotte

Action Network contributor Corey Parson previews how to bet Hornets vs. Celtics, including updated odds, picks & predictions for Friday's game.

Hornets vs. Celtics Odds

Hornets Odds +10
Celtics Odds -10
Over/Under 227
Time 7:30 p.m. ET
TV ESPN
Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here.

The Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets meet for the fourth and final time this season tonight in Boston. The Celtics will be looking to complete the season sweep against a team that has officially signaled (if we didn’t know already) that they won’t be competing for much but draft position this season. 

With double-digit spread in this game, let’s take a look at how these teams have been playing and what kind of value we can find in Hornets vs Celtics.


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Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets come into tonight’s game riding a five game losing streak. So far this season the Hornets have had five separate losing streaks of at least five games. Only the Pistons, Rockets, and Spurs have fewer wins than the Hornets.

Charlotte is 15-41 this season and they still don’t have the worst record in the NBA. Not only are the Hornets bad at winning basketball games, they also don’t cover point spreads. They are 24-30-2 against the spread this season and 16-15-1 ATS on the road this season. On average they are a 6-point underdog in road games. The Celtics have beat the Hornets by 12, 16, and 35 points in their three games this season.

Mason Plumlee and Jalen McDaniels were both traded before the deadline so they will be even more shorthanded tonight. No matter how you look at it this is a poor matchup for a outmanned Hornets team.


Boston Celtics

We just wrapped up what may have been the most exciting trade deadline in NBA history. Teams put together their rosters to make a title run. With all the movement of star players around the league one thing remains the same. The Celtics are still the favorites to win the NBA Championship. The Celtics own the league’s best record, best point differential. They are top-five in the league in offense and defense. They are still the team to beat. 

Many times good NBA teams tend to struggle a bit as All-Star break approaches. I don’t want to give off the idea that the Celtics are struggling but they have not been a good team to back at the betting window over the course of the last month. The Celtics are 4-7ATS over the last 11 games. They are 2-4 ATS at home during that time frame.

It looks like Boston is a bit fatigued and a bit overvalued at the moment. Celtics star and MVP candidate Jayson Tatum has averaged at least 30-point per month in every month so far this season. So far for the month of February that number has dipped to 24 points per game.

Tatum is questionable for the Celtics tonight. Tatum’s running mate Jaylen Brown suffered a broken facial bone earlier this week. Brown is expected to be out past the All-Star break. Robert Williams and Al Horford are also questionable tonight. The Celtics are quietly limping into the All Star break. 

Hornets-Celtics Pick

In the three previous meetings between these two teams the Celtics are 3-0 ATS and the over has cashed in two of the three games. I don’t think it’s a good idea to lay double-digits within the Celtics tonight despite the ineptitude of their opponent.

Both Charlotte and Boston have been playing to the under as of late. The under has cashed in seven of the Celtics past 11 games. The Hornets have cashed to the under in seven of their last 12 games.

This line opened at 230 and has been steadily moving down. According to Action Network’s public betting data, the under is getting a significant amount of money (63%) compared to the roughly even split of tickets at the time of writing. While I got this at the opening number, I still like the under at 227.