The Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics, two elite teams in their respective conferences, clash on Monday.
The pregame narrative: The Rockets are red-hot, winning eight of their last 10 games and I want in. I’m buying a few extra points on Houston’s spread and backing player props on Jalen Green and Amen Thompson in this +310 SGP.
Check out my Rockets vs. Celtics same-game parlay predictions for Jan. 27.
Rockets vs. Celtics predictions
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Parlay: Rockets +9.5 + Green over 2.5 assists + Thompson over 25.5 points/rebounds (+310)
Rockets +9.5 (-225): The Rockets have grabbed the NBA’s attention, holding a 30-14 record and the second seed in the Western Conference.
That includes being one of the better teams against the spread, holding a 26-17-1 record to this point.
Conversely, Boston has the fifth-worst ATS record (18-27-1) indicating that the spread is normally too high for the reigning champs.
The Rockets are very good on the road, too. They hold a 15-6 away record which is better than the Celtics 15-8 home record.
Houston did lose 109-86 at home to Boston on Jan. 3 but that was after a tough stretch of games for the Rockets.
I expect a better-rested side to go into TD Garden looking to get some revenge.
Other SGP legs
Green over 2.5 assists (-141): The fourth-year pro is averaging the lowest assists per game (2.8) since his rookie season.
But you wouldn’t know it looking at his past results.
- Green is averaging 3.6 assists over his last 10 games
- He’s 8-2 against this line during that span.
He’s consistently hitting this mark and I believe the Rockets will gameplan to pass more in hopes of breaking down an elite Celtics’ defence.
Green recorded nine total assists in his recent two-game series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, another top Eastern Conference side.
Thompson over 25.5 points/rebounds (-107): Thompson is a fun player to bet on because he has an insanely high motor and plays a load of minutes.
The second-year pro shoots 55.6% from the field and averages 21.3 points/rebounds per game.
That’s much lower than what’s needed tonight but if we look at his recent results, it will become evident why this line is still very much attainable.
- Thompson is averaging 17.7 PPG and 11.8 RPG since Jan. 1.
- He’s 6-3 against this line over those games.
It helped that he played 35-plus minutes in eight of those contests and 40-plus in six.
Boston is a bad matchup for basically all players but Thompson has proven he can fill the stat sheet against any team in the association.
Picks made at 1:00 p.m. on 01/26/25.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.