Boston Celtics (32-18, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. Houston Rockets (31-17, fourth in the Western Conference)
Houston; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Rockets -5.5; over/under is 216.5
BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into a matchup with Boston as winners of three straight games.
The Rockets have gone 17-4 in home games. Houston scores 116.0 points and has outscored opponents by 6.0 points per game.
The Celtics are 16-10 on the road. Boston ranks second in the league averaging 15.5 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.7% from downtown. Derrick White leads the team averaging 2.8 makes while shooting 32.0% from 3-point range.
The 116.0 points per game the Rockets average are 7.1 more points than the Celtics allow (108.9). The Celtics average 15.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.4 more made shots on average than the 12.1 per game the Rockets give up.
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Rockets won 128-101 in the last meeting on Nov. 2. Kevin Durant led the Rockets with 26 points, and Baylor Scheierman led the Celtics with 17 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Amen Thompson is averaging 18.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals for the Rockets. Durant is averaging 24.4 points over the last 10 games.
Jaylen Brown is averaging 29.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Celtics. Payton Pritchard is averaging 16.6 points and 4.5 assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rockets: 8-2, averaging 111.3 points, 49.2 rebounds, 25.3 assists, 9.4 steals and 6.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.0 points per game.
Celtics: 7-3, averaging 113.2 points, 46.8 rebounds, 24.8 assists, 7.4 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 103.7 points.
INJURIES: Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Kevin Durant: day to day (ankle), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle), Dorian Finney-Smith: out (ankle).
Celtics: Jayson Tatum: out (achilles), Chris Boucher: day to day (personal).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
By The Associated Press
