Basketball
Who’s Playing
Boston Celtics @ Houston Rockets
Current Records: Boston 25-9, Houston 22-11
How To Watch
- When: Friday, January 3, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET
- Where: Toyota Center — Houston, Texas
- TV: NBC Sports Boston
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $57.42
What to Know
The Rockets will be in front of their home fans on Friday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They will host the Boston Celtics at 8:00 p.m. ET at Toyota Center. The Rockets’ defense has only allowed 106.4 points per game this season, so the Celtics’ offense will have their work cut out for them.
The Rockets are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 221, but even that wound up being too high. They came out on top against the Mavericks by a score of 110-99 on Wednesday.
Alperen Sengun was the offensive standout of the game as he went 9 for 16 en route to 23 points plus six rebounds and six steals.
Even though they won, the Rockets struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That’s the fewest offensive rebounds they’ve posted since back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, the Celtics posted their closest victory since November 24, 2024 on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Timberwolves , sneaking past 118-115. Having forecasted a close win for Boston, the oddsmakers were right on the money.
Jayson Tatum was his usual excellent self, almost dropping a double-double on 33 points and nine assists.
Houston’s victory bumped their record up to 22-11. As for Boston, they have been performing well recently as they’ve won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 25-9 record this season.
The Rockets came up short against the Celtics in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, falling 116-107. Can the Rockets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Odds
Boston is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Houston, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 2.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 221.5 points.
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Series History
Boston has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Houston.
- Jan 21, 2024 – Boston 116 vs. Houston 107
- Jan 13, 2024 – Boston 145 vs. Houston 113
- Mar 13, 2023 – Houston 111 vs. Boston 109
- Dec 27, 2022 – Boston 126 vs. Houston 102
- Nov 22, 2021 – Boston 108 vs. Houston 90
- Oct 24, 2021 – Boston 107 vs. Houston 97
- Apr 02, 2021 – Boston 118 vs. Houston 102
- Mar 14, 2021 – Boston 134 vs. Houston 107
- Feb 29, 2020 – Houston 111 vs. Boston 110
- Feb 11, 2020 – Houston 116 vs. Boston 105
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