NBA picks: Celtics vs. Blazers prediction, odds, over/under, spread, injury report

The Portland Trail Blazers (31-38) will try to keep their playoff hopes alive when they welcome the Boston Celtics (48-22) to the MODA Center Friday evening. These teams are sitting at opposite ends of the playoff spectrum ahead of this contest.

Justise Winslow (ankle) and Ibou Badji (knee) are both out for Portland, while Jerami Grant (quad) is questionable and Damian Lillard (calf) is probable. Payton Pritchard (heel), Robert Williams (hamstring) and Danilo Gallinari (knee) are all out for the Celtics. Jayson Tatum (hip) is questionable.

The Celtics are 4.5-point favorites according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The total comes in at 229.5. The Celtics are -190 on the moneyline, while the Trail Blazers are +160.

Celtics vs. Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET

Pick ATS: Celtics -4.5

The Trail Blazers are fading fast, as they've lost four of their last five games and enter play 2.5 games back of the play-in tournament. To make matters worse, they've only covered the spread in four of their last 12 games. While the Celtics have stumbled lately (5-5 in their last 10 games), they're only two games back of the Bucks for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and should enter tonight's game with some extra motivation. When these teams faced off earlier this month, the Celtics picked up a 18-point win. They should take care of business tonight.

Over/Under: Over 229.5

This is a tough one to predict, as the Celtics hold the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA (111.1) while the Trail Blazers are 27th (117.1). Although this under has hit in three of Boston's last four games (one of which was the aforementioned win over the Trail Blazers), this over has hit in six of the last eight games for the Blazers. Take the over here.

  
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