New Orleans at Boston

Boston has beaten down most teams this season. They haven't needed much in the way of revenge factor to motivate them. But they will be out for it here. On Saturday in New Orleans they had a 15 point lead but blew it and lost by 7 points. We were on the Hornets in that one as they are a good team that doesn't get enough respect. David West torched them for 37 points. As a result of that game, we look for the Celtics to clamp down early on defense. New Orleans loses about 4 ppg on offense on the road as compared to home. We think Boston will really hold the Hornets down here and they won't let West beat them up again. Both teams are off an OVER and the Hornets are 24-10 UNDER in the first half off an OVER this season. Boston is the same, going 20-11 UNDER in the first half following a game that went OVER. Boston is 41-30 UNDER in the first half overall this season including 16-7 when the total is in this range. The Celts are also 22-13 UNDER in the first half this season vs. winning teams and 20-9 UNDER vs. teams that score 100+ ppg.