Boston Celtics (15-16) At Oklahoma City Thunder (25-7)

BOSTON CELTICS (15-16) at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (25-7)

Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Oklahoma City -9 & 186
Opening Line & Total: Thunder -8.5 & 186

Boston has lost four straight, and the team is looking at another long night when they visit Oklahoma City without Rajon Rondo on Wednesday night.

Last week, Boston was swept in a home-and-home with Detroit, sandwiched around a loss at Chicago to the Derrick Rose-less Bulls. Rondo (14.8 PPG, 9.5 APG) earned a two-game suspension for tossing a ball at an official after being ejected during the second Pistons loss, and he’ll be serving the second game of the ban on Wednesday. The Celtics were hardly competitive without him, PF Kevin Garnett (questionable for Wednesday for personal reasons) and PF Brandon Bass (out with a knee injury), trailing by as many as 23 in an 89-73 loss. The Celtics have never lost at Oklahoma City (SU and ATS) in three visits, but the Thunder beat them comfortably in Boston in January (97-88), when the Celtics were at full strength.

The Celtics didn’t collapse without Rondo when he missed eight games with a wrist injury last month. They went 6-2 SU and 5-3 ATS without him. But they couldn’t get anything going in Dallas on Monday. Paul Pierce (17.4 PPG) had 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting and SG Ray Allen (14.3 PPG) added 15, but hit just 1-of-5 threes. Rondo’s fill-in, PG Avery Bradley, got off to a fast start with six points in the first eight minutes, but finished with 12 and just two assists. Garnett (14.1 PPG) and Bass (11.6 PPG) were missed just as badly, as post players Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Wilcox, Greg Stiemsma and JaJuan Johnson combined for 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting.

This is the fourth of a five-game homestand to wrap up the first half for the Thunder. They’ve scored SU wins in their first three games, but failed to cover in their past two (a six-point overtime win over Denver on Sunday and an eight-point win over New Orleans on Monday). They’re 13-1 SU at home this season, but only 7-7 ATS.

Their defensive effort continues to be shaky with top perimeter defender Thabo Sefolosha still shelved by a foot injury. Their strong defensive numbers over the past five games—95.8 PPG and 39.7% FG allowed—are skewed by home games against teams that always struggle on the road (Utah, Golden State and New Orleans). High-scoring sixth man James Harden (16.8 PPG) is questionable for Wednesday’s game with an ankle injury. But right now, SF Kevin Durant (27.7 PPG on 51.6% FG) and PG Russell Westbrook (23.4 PPG) are more than capable of carrying them. Durant is averaging 31.8 PPG on 57.4% FG and 54.2% three-point FG over his past five games. Westbrook has added 27.9 PPG on 53.0% FG over his past eight games.


LOS ANGELES LAKERS (19-13) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (21-12)

Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Dallas -4.5 & 180.5
Opening Line & Total: Mavs -4 & 179.5

The Lakers once again look to reverse their road woes when they visit Dallas on Wednesday night.

With SU and ATS losses at Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia and Utah, plus a SU win but no cover in Toronto, over their past six road games, L.A. is 5-11 SU and 4-12 ATS on the road this year. Even worse, they’ve dropped four of five SU and five in a row ATS against the Mavs, and four of five SU and ATS in Dallas. The Lakers managed to sneak by the Mavs at home more than a month ago, an ugly 73-70 slugfest in which the Mavs shot 4-for-26 from three. But Dallas has been playing excellent of late, winning seven of eight SU (5-2-1 ATS), including four in a row SU at home (2-1-1 ATS) over playoff contenders Portland, the Clippers, Denver and Boston.

The Lakers bounced back from a 12-point loss at Phoenix on Sunday by beating up on Portland at home on Monday. It was a familiar home/road pattern, as L.A. is averaging 96.0 PPG on 47.4% FG and 33.7% shooting from three at home, and 90.6 PPG on 42.7% FG and 26.8% shooting from three on the road.

SG Kobe Bryant (29.0 PPG) has remained fairly even in home versus road performances, as have C Andrew Bynum (16.3 PPG, 12.8 RPG) and PF Pau Gasol (16.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG). The culprits have been their supporting cast. SF Matt Barnes (7.1 PPG) is averaging 9.6 PPG on 52.9% shooting from the field at home versus 4.9 PPG on 35.4% shooting on the road. PG Steve Blake (7.1 PPG) averages 8.5 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field and 44.7% shooting from three at home, but 5.1 PPG on 32.0% from the field and 21.4% from three in away games. PG Derek Fisher (5.2 PPG) has hit just 33.3% of his threes at home, but a miserable 18.5% on the road.

The Mavericks have done it with defense during their recent hot streak. They’ve held opponents to 89.3 PPG on 40.2% FG (28.4% on threes) over their past eight games. But offensively they’ve been a bit of an enigma. PF Dirk Nowitzki (19.4 PPG) has been his usual stellar self, averaging 25.0 PPG over that eight-game stretch. But their No. 2 option, sixth man Jason Terry (14.7 PPG), has been cold of late, averaging 13.0 PPG on 39.2% FG (32.4% from three) in these eight contests.