Celtics vs Spurs Picks & Odds (Jan. 7)

• The Celtics visit the Spurs on Saturday
• Boston is a heavy 11-point favorite here
• Will Jayson Tatum and Co. get it done? Find the answer below with the odds, preview, and Celtics vs Spurs prediction

The Boston Celtics (27-12, 12-7 away) will finish up a four-game road trip on Saturday down in Texas as they face the lowly San Antonio Spurs (13-26, 8-13 home) at the AT&T Center. It’s the first meeting of the campaign between the two but surprisingly, Gregg Popovich’s squad has won two straight against the Eastern Conference’s best team. Continue reading for the Celtics vs Spurs prediction.

The C’s are only 5-5 in their last 10 games but did grab a statement win in Dallas against the Mavs on Thursday, cruising to a 124-95 victory. The Spurs meanwhile took down the Detroit Pistons on Friday by a score of 121-109.

Celtics vs Spurs Odds

Odds as of January 6th at DraftKings.

The Celtics are a huge 11-point favorite for Saturday’s matchup with moneyline odds of -645. That’s an implied win probability of 86.58%. The Spurs have just a 17.24% chance of coming out victorious with +480 odds.

Boston Betting Outlook

After a blistering start to the season, the C’s have come down to earth as of late. The offense continues to flourish with a league-best 118.7 points per game while shooting 37.2% from downtown, which ranks seventh. And after a pair of losses earlier this week to the Nuggets and Thunder, in which they got blown out by 33 points in the latter to an OKC team missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Boston bounced back with authority on Thursday.

By no surprise, Jayson Tatum led the way, dropping a huge stat line of 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists in 35 minutes of action. Everyone did their part here, with six players scoring a minimum of 10 points. Co-star Jaylen Brown also added 19.

Joe Mazzulla’s group really exposed the Mavericks’ lackluster defense, dishing out 29 assists and finding countless good looks from all over the floor. The Celtics also outrebounded Dallas 52-42. Despite the two-game losing streak against San Antonio, Boston will be feeling confident heading into this contest, especially with the Spurs missing one of their best players. We’ll get into that in a second.

San Antonio Betting Outlook

2022-23 was always seen as a rebuild for the young Spurs. That became even more evident on Thursday with star guard Devin Vassell undergoing left knee surgery. He’s out indefinitely. Vassell was averaging 19.4 PPG, which put him second on the roster behind Keldon Johnson. His absence is certainly a crushing blow to San Antonio.

On  a more positive note, Popovich’s team managed to end their three-game losing skid Friday over another rebuilding club in the Pistons. Tre Jones was the leading catalyst in this one, dropping 25 points at point guard. Jakob Poeltl also had 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Final Stats 📊

Tre: 25p | 3r | 3a | 2s
Romeo: 15p | 2r
Malaki: 14p | 3a | 2r
Jak: 11p | 16r | 7a | 3b | 2s
Jeremy: 10p | 8r | 2a
JRich: 9p | 5a | 2r
Stanley: 9p | 4r |2a
Zach: 9p | 4r | 2a
Doug: 9p | 3r
KJ: 8p pic.twitter.com/glQ0gDCCmB

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 7, 2023

However, the Spurs lost Keldon Johnson to a hamstring injury after playing only 12 minutes. He’ll likely miss out on Saturday, which means San Antonio is down their two top guys. Not ideal by any means.

Celtics vs Spurs Prediction

The Spurs are in brutal shape from a health standpoint and the Celtics are coming off a statement win. 11 points seems like a lot, but there’s no Vassell and potentially Johnson, too. Boston covers.

Pick: Celtics -11 (-110)