With less than three weeks remaining in the NBA regular season, team positioning as well as the race for MVP are both heating up. Tonight’s 7:30 pm ET match up features the top two teams in the NBA going head to head for the second time in two weeks. But more so, two of the top three MVP candidates (in Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul) will lace them up against each other in Boston, Mass. The favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in this year’s NBA Finals are the historic Boston Celtics, who come into this contest with staggering 56-15 record; and an even more impressive 30-6 at the old Garden. Meanwhile, the surprising Hornets march into the Boston Garden at 49-21 overall (with 22-11 on the road). Sportsbetting.com has the Boston Celtics a -7 NBA Basketball betting favorite over the New Orleans Hornets with the O/U at 196.5.    

The last time these two teams met was six days ago at the Hive in Louisiana. Even though, all-star and MVP candidate Chris Paul’s playing time was seriously diminished due to early foul trouble, the Hornet’s other all-star David West stepped up scoring 37 pts; dropping 11 in the all important 4th quarter. Chris Paul is peaking at the right time. He is averaging 25 pts per game and has unselfishly distributed 14+ dimes per game over the course of their last eleven contests.

The Boston Celtics have been almost unbeatable at home this season. In the house that Auerbach built, the Men in Green come in with the best home mark in the NBA with 30-6. Furthermore, with now everyone healthy in the Celts squad there aren’t a lot of teams that can outplay them. Look for the Big Ticket and The Truth to have huge games, and solid contributions from the role players as they look to avenge last week’s lost to NO. The Celtics are the NBA's best defensive team so if they execute the game plan this one could easily be a low scoring affair.     

PLAY: -7 Boston

PLAY: UNDER 196.5

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