Boston Celtics vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 06/04/2024, 23:56  by Joseph King | Modified on 07/04/2024 at 10:00 in NBA Prediction

The Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics host the West’s 14th-place Portland Trail Blazers for this Sunday late afternoon matchup in the NBA. The Celtics are coming off a narrow 101-100 win over the Sacramento Kings which saw them take the lead with seven seconds left thanks to a Xavier Tillman hookshot after a wild sequence. The victory was Boston’s fourth in a row and moved their record to an NBA best 61-16 on the season. With the number one seed already locked up, there are questions as to whether or not the Celtics will risk their star players here. Both Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown are listed as day-to-day on the official injury report, the latter of which missed out vs the Kings. The Celtics have excellent depth, however, proven by the fact that they are 10-0 in games without Brown and 4-1 in games without Tatum.

The Trail Blazers ran out 108-102 winners over the Wizards on Friday for a rare two-game winning streak. It was only the fifth time this season that Portland has won back-to-back games and they now have a chance to tie their season-long winning streak here. Deandre Ayton had a monster game in the team’s latest win, posting 34 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. There are certainly signs pointing towards this potentially being a low-scoring contest. The Trail Blazers’ have a very respectable defense as they rank 17th in the NBA in points allowed per outing at 115.5. Additionally, they’ve stepped it up even more in their recent games as they are holding their opponents to just 97.3 over their last three. With Portland dealing with a number of injuries of their own, they’ve taken this opportunity to blood a number of their young players.