NBA Wednesday Tips: Boston Celtics on guard against surging Sixers

The Boston Celtics’ grip on the NBA’s best record is under threat, while Kyrie Irving’s arrival in Dallas looks a pretty Maverick move. Basketball expert Mark Woods previews Wednesday’s games.

Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics

Tipoff: 12.30am Thursday GMT  

A pair of genuine candidates for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award will duel as a sub-plot to an always-spicy battle between two of the league’s oldest foes. 

Just to add extra intrigue, the Sixers currently sit three games back from Boston in the Eastern Conference standings and the Celtics’ hold on the best record in the Association remains under threat amid their mid-winter blues. 

This is only the second clash between the green and blue heavyweights with the Cs victorious 126-117 earlier in the season. And success against their Atlantic Division rivals has been one bedrock on which their success has been built with a 7-1 record to date. 

And yet Boston is a mere 3-4 over their last seven contests, putting up a relatively middling 111.3 points per night and shooting a mediocre 45% from the field. A win over the Pistons on Monday is hardly the stuff that reassurance is made of - a world apart from their nine-game winning streak at the turn of the year. 

Focus has been an issue, as has some poor starts. They are now 0-9 this term when trailing by eight points or more at the half, and a 106-94 reverse to the Phoenix Suns was their first home defeat by double-digits in 16 months. 

The markets still make Boston 5.1 favourites for the NBA title and 1.12 to top the Atlantic, but the margins are slim. The 76ers are 6.2 for the division, with the Brooklyn Nets, following Kyrie Irving’s exit, now a wildcard at 19.5. Even though Philly has profited from a relatively soft schedule lately, they are positioned to overtake both on the blindside.

Joel Embiid, who leads the NBA in scoring with 33.4 points per game, has now been cut to 3.3 for MVP. Jayson Tatum, averaging 30.9 ppg, has gone out to 12. Philadelphia is 5-2 of late, albeit on a slender differential of +2.1, and are available at an attractive 2.68 to prevail on the road. Another loss for the Celtics could turn the forecasts on their head.  

Prediction: 76ers +4 @ 1.92

Sacramento Kings @ Houston Rockets

Tipoff: 1am Thursday GMT 

Just when you thought the Rockets couldn’t get worse, they lose three straight games. They’re 7-29 against the rest of the West, and 8-25 against opponents with winning records. 

That all includes an NBA rarity: the first leg of a home-and-home double. Two nights ago, the Kings beat up the Rockets 140-120. Another similar punishment awaits. 

Prediction: Sacramento -9 @ 2.14

Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Clippers

Tipoff: 3am Thursday GMT  

It’s the $18 million question: does the arrival of Kyrie Irving immediately merit torching the NBA Championship odds of the Dallas Mavericks and proclaiming them as a contender? 

The first evidence for the prosecution is set to be heard on Wednesday when the re-shaped Mavs visit the LA Clippers. It feels like a reboot for Dallas, who have lent so heavily on Luka Doncic that you fear the Slovenian star will break. 

Absent through injury from the Mavericks’ 124-111 win over Utah on Monday, his new backcourt partnership with Irving will not debut in Los Angeles. Their chemistry may be a work in progress - both ball dominant and wilful as well as creative, there is the fascinating potential to charm or combust.

However the Mavs desperately need the 27.1 points per game that the enigmatic Irving brought in Brooklyn. Over their past 15 games, they have gone a lowly 6-9 and put up 112.7 points per content, just 23rd in the charts. When Doncic is out of office, there is now a secondary option available. The newcomer’s defence, when motivated, is a certain upgrade on the departed Spencer Dinwiddie. 

The gamble is that Kyrie becomes that Kyrie: disruptive and disillusioned. But for now, Dallas – cut to a still-attractive 6.4 to win the Western Conference – will seek an instant recharge. 

The Clippers, one place above in fourth following eight wins out of ten, don’t offer an easy introduction and could pile up the scoring as their rivals start over. Going over 220 points is on offer at 1.91. Yet beyond, and ahead, the Mavericks have got a lot more interesting. 

Prediction: Clippers -6.5 @ 1.81

NBA Wednesday Tips

Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics: Philadelphia 76ers +4 @ 1.92
Sacramento Kings @ Houston Rockets: Sacramento Kings -9 @ 2.14
Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Clippers: LA Clippers -6.5 @ 1.81