Nets vs. Celtics Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for January 12 (Boston's Stars Thrive in Kevin Durant's Absence)

Nets vs. Celtics Game Info

• Date: Thursday, January 12, 2023
• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• Venue: Barclays Center -- Brooklyn, New York
• Coverage: TNT and NBCS-BOS

The Brooklyn Nets (27-13) are hosting the Boston Celtics (30-12) in one of the six NBA matchups scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12.

The Nets have been one of the league's hottest teams, winning for the 14th time in their last 15 outings with Sunday's 102-101 victory over the Miami Heat. Meanwhile, the Celtics have also been playing well lately, picking up a 125-114 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, improving Boston's record to 8-2 in the last 10 games.

Can Brooklyn pick up from where it left off after resting for the last three days? Or will Boston leave the Barclays Center crowd disappointed tonight?

Nets vs. Celtics Odds & Spread

• All NBA betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: BOS: (-148) | BKN: (+126)
• Spread: BOS: -3 (-110) | BKN: +3 (-110)
• Total: 228 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

The Celtics enter this contest as slight road favorites on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7:30 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 228 points, which is in the middle of Thursday's totals.

Celtics vs Nets Betting Information

Favorite	Spread	Favorite Spread Odds	Underdog Spread Odds	Total	Over Total Odds	Under Total Odds	Favorite Moneyline	Underdog Moneyline
Celtics	-3	-	-	227.5	-110	-110	-154	130

Nets vs. Celtics Betting Trends

• The Celtics covered 43 times in 82 games with a spread last season.
• Against the spread, as underdogs of 3 points or more, the Nets went 8-9 last year.
• A total of 41 Celtics games last season hit the over.
• There were 41 Nets games (out of 82) that went over the total last season.

Nets vs. Celtics Prediction & Pick

The Nets might be NBA Championship contenders this season, but they've struggled against the Celtics. Brooklyn has lost eight consecutive games to Boston, including a 103-92 loss just last month. It's going to be even tougher for the Nets to win without Kevin Durant (knee), proven by their being 4-15 in the last 19 games that he's missed.

If that wasn't bad enough for the Nets, the Celtics have also won their last five trips to Barclays Center. Boston's defense was at the forefront of those victories, holding Brooklyn to just 100.8 PPG on .439/.329/.657 shooting splits.

Furthermore, the Nets must figure out a way to match Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who just combined for 72 points against the Pelicans. While Kyrie Irving is talented in his own right, he can't carry the Nets to victory alone against a team like Boston.

Back the Celtics coming through with the win tonight.

Final Score Prediction: Celtics: 114 | Nets: 107

Nets vs. Celtics Best Bet

With Durant being absent, I don't see the Nets keeping this one too close. After all, the Celtics own the No. 1 scoring margin (plus-6.0) in the NBA and have beaten the Nets by an average of 11.6 points in the last eight meetings between these teams. On top of that, Boston is 5-0 against the spread (ATS) in its last five trips to Brooklyn.

Considering how the Nets are also 2-5 ATS in their last seven games on a Thursday, the best bet here is to back the Celtics as 3-point favorites.

Bet: Celtics -3 (-110)

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.