Weren\u2019t the Boston Celtics supposed to be bad this season? Here they sit, the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with a point differential better than +6 points per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is one of the more underrated yet impressive pieces of this season, and it should continue against the Sacramento Kings tonight, the worst team in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
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Yet my Celtics vs. Kings predictions and NBA picks<\/a> on Thursday, January 1 expect Sacramento to cover the spread, largely thanks to the schedule.<\/p>\n Celtics vs Kings prediction<\/p>\n Celtics vs Kings best bet<\/strong>: Kings +9.5 (-110)<\/p>\n While the Sacramento Kings<\/a> are the worst team in the Western Conference, they luck into a schedule edge here simply because the Boston Celtics<\/a> are on a lengthy road trip through a holiday. And after tonight, Boston will at least have an off night in Los Angeles to look forward to.<\/p>\n Doubt in Boston\u2019s depth in their fourth straight road game. For that matter, the Celtics are 1-3 against the spread in their last four games as at least three-bucket favorites, two of those three ATS losses coming on the road.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n It is simply a steep ask, expecting a roster in flux to go on the road and win by 10 points. Just two weeks ago, Sacramento covered the spread in three straight games as 10- and 10.5-point underdogs, all at home.<\/p>\n Celtics vs Kings same-game parlay<\/p>\n If Boston\u2019s energy wanes at all, look for it to show up defensively more than offensively. And that should fit hand-in-hand with two of the three games on this road trip already hitting their Overs.<\/p>\n The one Celtic you can trust to not lack for energy is Luka Garza<\/a>, growing into a bigger and bigger role on this altered Boston roster, scoring in double digits in three of his last five games.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Celtics vs Kings SGP<\/p>\n Luka Garza Over 6.5 points<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Our “from downtown” SGP: Achiuwa benefits from Garza’s mistakes<\/p>\n Among all of Garza\u2019s assets, his defensive effort is notable, but that is very much a backhanded compliment. Garza needs that effort on defense because he often makes mistakes.<\/p>\n Just a few should push Precious Achiuwa<\/a> closer to double digits than not. In four of his last five games, he has scored at least five points. That may sound like a low bar, but one additional Garza mistake would then push Achiuwa to a profitable range.<\/p>\n Celtics vs Kings SGP<\/p>\n Luka Garza Over 6.5 points<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Precious Achiuwa Over 6.5 points<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Celtics vs Kings odds<\/p>\n Spread<\/strong>: Celtics -9.5 | Kings +9.5<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Moneyline<\/strong>: Celtics -400 | Kings +320<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Over\/Under<\/strong>: Over 229 | Under 229<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Celtics vs Kings betting trend to know<\/p>\n Sacramento went 4-0 against the spread in its most recent stretch at home, ending less than a week ago. Find more NBA betting trends<\/a> for Celtics vs. Kings.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n How to watch Celtics vs Kings<\/p>\n Location<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Date<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Thursday, January 1, 2026<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Tip-off<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n TV<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n NBCSB, NBCSCA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Celtics vs Kings latest injuries<\/p>\n Not intended for use in MA. This article originally appeared on Covers.com<\/a>, read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weren\u2019t the Boston Celtics supposed to be bad this season? Here they sit, the No. 3 seed in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":485615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[219465,3125,1518,224,107467,1260,22875,3143,62,67,132,68,7184],"class_list":{"0":"post-485614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-achiuwa","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-eastern-conference","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-luka-garza","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sacramento","15":"tag-sacramento-kings","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115821989236482184","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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