Celtics vs Trail Blazers Picks: Green Making Green

Jayson Tatum is the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, while the Celtics have won five of their past six games to gain steam in their rise up the East standings.

Apr 13, 2021 • 17:15 ET
Jayson Tatum NBA Boston Celtics
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics are finally getting it together. The Celts are 7-3 SU in their last ten, Jayson Tatum just had arguably the best game of his career, and Boston can potentially rise out of Eastern Conference play-in territory tonight. 

But their opponents won't be rolling over. The Portland Trail Blazers have been lurking in the West, and are now healthy, with two injured rivals standing between them and a homecourt seed. 

We're breaking down this nightcap NBA betting matchup—read on for our Celtics vs. Trail Blazers picks and predictions for Tuesday, April 13. 

Celtics vs Trail Blazers odds

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NBA sharp money and line movement report

By Patrick Everson

DraftKings opened Portland a 1.5-point favorite late Monday night, dipped to -1 early today and returned to -1.5 this afternoon. As of 5:15 p.m. ET, the line is Trail Blazers -1.5 on two-way action, with Portland landing 57 percent of bets and 59 percent of money. The total jumped from 227 to 230, then inched back to 229.5, with 63 percent of bets/74 percent of money on the Over.

Check out the full line movement for this game

Celtics at Trail Blazers betting preview

Injuries

Celtics: Evan Fournier SG (Out).
Trail Blazers: None.
Find our latest NBA injury reports.

Betting trend to know

Under is 8-1 in Celtics' last nine games overall. Find more NBA betting trends for Celtics vs. Trail Blazers.

Against the spread (ATS) pick

We wondered all season long what the hell was going on with the Celtics, and they finally appear to have snapped out of it, at least for now. Boston has won five of its past six games, including a 105-97 road stomping of the Denver Nuggets their last time out. 

Jayson Tatum recently dropped a career-high 53 points (with the caveat of doing so in OT against the Wolves' anemic defense), Jaylen Brown continues to be a top-tier second option, Marcus Smart remains an omnipresent irritant and constant motor, and the Timelord, Robert Williams, is finally getting consistent minutes and enjoying a breakout campaign. You knew Brad Stevens would get them clicking eventually.

Meanwhile, Portland has been staying afloat through a fairly roller-coaster portion of the schedule, going 3-4 SU through a stretch against Detroit twice and OKC (three gimme wins), but also Milwaukee, the Clippers, Utah and Miami (four tough losses).

Portland has consistently beaten inferior teams and lost to better clubs this season, which is bad news for Blazers backers considering how well Boston is playing right now. 

Having Smart to check Damian Lillard is a major insurance policy, as Dame Time averages just 20.3 points against Boston for his career—his second-lowest mark against any team in the NBA. Smart is exactly the kind of high-energy pest that will smother Lillard as soon as he crosses halfcourt, making him work for every bucket. 

Portland's other two main guns, CJ McCollum and Norman Powell, will spend most of their minutes marked by Tatum and Brown, meaning it could be a tough night at the office for the Blazers' offense. Unfortunately, they won't be able to return the favor, sporting the league's 29th-rated defense. 

In a matchup this close, back the squad that matches up better and can get it done on both sides of the ball. 

PREDICTION: Boston +1 (-110)

Over/Under pick

Here's a fun stat: the Celtics are 1-8 O/U in their last nine games. 

Not fun enough? How about the Blazers, who profile as Over-magnets, being 1-5 O/U in their last six.

Okay, so maybe a low-scoring game between these two doesn't sound like much fun, and while we were all hoping for a Lillard vs. Tatum shootout, the result might be more mundane.  

Boston is well-coached and disciplined enough to know that its best chance is to slow this game down instead of getting into a back-and-forth with one of the NBA's best gunslingers. And the Celtics have done a great job of that lately, conceding just 96 ppg over their last five, removing the ridiculous T-Wolves outlier.

The Celts will bring more focus to this game, and match up very well defensively with Portland's scorers. The Blazers were once threats to carry the Over by themselves, but even that has been a shady proposition the past two weeks.

Keep in mind, these are the 21st and 22nd-ranked teams in terms of pace. With this total being bet up, we like it to sneak Under. 

PREDICTION: Under 230 (-110)

Player prop pick

As mentioned above, Robert Williams is in the midst of a breakout for the Celtics, a high-energy defensive dynamo with a surprisingly versatile skill set. It had long been posited that giving him consistent minutes would help the Celtics reach the next level, and the early results are very encouraging.

In nine games since his minutes ratcheted up consistently into the high-20s, Timelord has been averaging 22.11 points + rebounds + assists, showing an ability to stuff other columns of the stat sheet on nights he's not scoring much.

His target of 19.5 in that market tonight seems very attainable, given his matchup with two slower bigs, one of whom (Enes Kanter) he's battled with in practice before. 

PREDICTION: Robert Williams Over 19.5 points + rebounds + assists (-120)

Celtics vs Trail Blazers betting card

  • Boston +1 (-110)
  • Under 230 (-110)
  • Robert Williams Over 19.5 points + rebounds + assists (-120)

Picks made on 04/13/2021 at 11:45 a.m. ET. 

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