Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets 12/23/18: Starting Lineups, Matchup Breakdown, Odds, Daily Fantasy, Betting
Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets Preview
The Boston Celtics (18-13) host the Charlotte Hornets (16-15) tonight in a game pitting the Eastern Conference’s fifth and sixth place teams.
The Celtics had won eight straight before losing their last three, including a Friday night loss at TD Garden to the Milwaukee Bucks 107-120. The Hornets, meanwhile, recently overcome their two recent losses in which they allowed 120+ points to pick up two straight against Cleveland and Detroit.
In the most recent matchup of the season series on November 19, the Hornets needed a monster night from Kemba Walker, who finished with 43 points, in order to get past the Celtics 117-112. It was a point guard showdown as Kyrie Irving put up 27 points and 11 assists, and that’s how this game should play out tonight.
TV Schedule
Date: 12/23/18
Time: 6:00pm ET
Arena: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Channel: NBCSB/FSSE-CHA
Boston Celtics Starting Lineup
| Position | Starter |
|---|---|
| PG | Kyrie Irving |
| SG | Marcus Smart |
| SF | Jayson Tatum |
| PF | Marcus Morris |
| C | Al Horford |
Celtics Analysis
The Boston Celtics have been hit hard by the injury bug this season with key players out at several different points this season. But the Celtics’ issues lately seem to be deeper than that as the team had a meeting lately after their loss on Friday, which was their third consecutive and second consecutive loss at home.
They’ll hope to change their fortunes at home and snap their streak against the Hornets, and there does seem to be some good news on the injury front with Al Horford listed as probably and Marcus Morris questionable for tonight.
With their thin front line on Friday, Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points and eight rebounds. While Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, and Jaylen Brown did their best to try to match the Bucks, a 35-22 first-quarter deficit ended up being too much to make up for.
A fully healthy Celtics squad looks like a threat out East, but until they get all their pieces back, they’ll likely remain a few games out of the top three or four in the conference.
Celtics Quick Links: Celtics Starting Lineup, Celtics Roster, Celtics Depth Chart, Celtics Injuries, Celtics News, Celtics Schedule
Charlotte Hornets Starting Lineup
| Position | Starter |
|---|---|
| PG | Kemba Walker |
| SG | Jeremy Lamb |
| SF | Nicolas Batum |
| PF | Marvin Williams |
| C | Cody Zeller |
Contents
Hornets Analysis
This season, the Charlotte Hornets go as Kemba Walker goes. When Walker scores over 20 points, the majority of the time the Hornets are winning. When he’s not, like a four-point night against the Lakers and 16-point performance against the Knicks, the Hornets have not had enough firepower to pull off wins.
Luckily over the last seven games, Walker has been on more than he’s been off, which is why they’ve won five of those games and are on a two-game winning streak. But another trend in the last two games has been the resurgence of forward Marvin Williams.
Williams, who averages under 10 points per game, had 18 points and 10 rebounds against the Cavaliers and knocked down seven three-pointers against the Pistons on the way to 24 points.
If the Hornets can get a regular Robin to Walker’s Batman, and a few other consistent contributions from Jeremy Lamb and Nicolas Batum, the Hornets may be able to make some noise in the Eastern Conference, and that all starts in Boston tonight.
Hornets Quick Links: Hornets Starting Lineup, Hornets Roster, Hornets Depth Chart, Hornets Injuries, Hornets News, Hornets Schedule
Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets Betting Odds
Boston is the -7 point favorite to win tonight’s game and turn things around at home. The over/under is 218 points and there has been only a slight change on the moneyline, as the Celtics opened at -280 and are now live at -290.
The Celtics are 111-50 at home and 155-64 as the favorite. Charlotte is 51-87 on the road and 31-89 as the underdog.
Odds & Line Movement Links: Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets, Vegas Odds (All NBA Games Today)
DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy Picks
It’ll be a battle of the point guards tonight, and Kyrie Irving ($9.4k) and Kemba Walker ($9.8k) are the stud picks for this matchup. Irving is projected to finish tonight’s game with 44.49 points on FanDuel, while Walker is projected for 40.64.
Value picks are Marvin Williams ($5.6k), who is projected for 29.36 points and Jayson Tatum ($6.9k) who is projected to rack up 34.01 fantasy points.
Find all of our Fanduel and Draftkings projections here: https://www.lineups.com/nba/nba-fantasy-basketball-projections.
