FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2010 – FREE NBA PICK
Boston Celtics (34-18) at Portland Trailblazers (32-24), 10:30 P.M. EST, TV: ESPN
The Boston Celtics, the first-place team in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, will travel to Portland to take on the Trailblazers , the fourth-place team in the Western’s Pacific Division, at the Rose Garden.
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The Celtics lead the season series, 1-0.
Wow, Boston. Kudos to you, old men, because you continue to surprise and amaze me. Never more was the resiliency of the Celtics on display than in a gutsy win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday at the Staples Center, the Celtics’ second straight win on a West Coast road trip. Trading Eddie House for Nate Robinson might not be enough to keep Boston in the hunt for the title, but anything was going to be an upgrade over poor-shooting, no-defense Eddie House, and the diminutive slam-dunk champion is an absolute sparkplug off the bench. Robinson makes Boston a little better. But they’re still old.
After he gets over the shock of being traded, Marcus Camby is going to be a pretty good addition for the Portland Trailblazers. It’s going to take a second for Camby to get acclimated to the Pacific Northwest (in the middle of the winter, no less), but he’s a pro’s pro, and the 14-year veteran is second in the NBA in rebounding and sixth in blocked shots, intangible stats and worth giving up fan fave Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw for. Combined with Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge, the Trailblazers are a physical, physical team.
The odds makers have the Trailblazers at -3 -point favorites.
The Celtics have gutted out two straight wins on this road trip, but aren’t scoring a lot of points, necessarily, winning 95-92 at Sacramento and 87-86 over the Lakers. They’ll need to fill it up a little more if they want to keep winning. The Blazers have talked openly about being excited that the Celtics are coming to town, which makes sense because they’re a young team who grew up watching Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. That’s the NBA equivalent of blood in the water.
Look for Portland to rise to the challenge of having Boston come to town and win by 2 points at a rocking Rose Garden.
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- Boston is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
- Boston is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games on the road
- Boston is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games when playing Portland
- Boston is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Portland
- Portland is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games at home
- Portland is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games when playing Boston
- Portland is 1-8 SU in its last 9 games when playing Boston
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