The Boston Celtics have to be considered a surprise team in the Eastern Conference this season, inasmuch as they are in second place at the moment. A lot of credit goes to head coach Brad Stevens, who, if you recall, had brought Butler University to back-to-back NCAA championship games. The Celtics will attempt to continue their momentum on Thursday night as they visit the Chicago Bulls in a game that will begin at 8:05 PM ET at the United Center. BetAnySports customers get better NBA basketball betting odds through reduced juice, and they can stay in the action even after the opening tip as they access the state-of-the-art software available through Live Betting Ultra.

Boston has won 11 of its last 12 games, including four victories on the road, and they have a 37-19 straight-up record (29-25-2 ATS), which is good for second place in the East, 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. Chicago has a 27-29 record, both straight-up and against the basketball pointspread, and they are the seventh-place team in the East, 12.5 games behind the Cavs, two games behind sixth-place Indiana, and just the game and a half ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks, who occupy the #9 position. So as you can imagine, there is a lot of jockeying for playoff spots at the bottom rung of the East playoff queue right now.

There is an injury question coming into this game; Dwayne Wade, the future Hall of Fame guard who has been playing a lot of small forward for Chicago, has a wrist injury, and he is listed as questionable. This brings up an interesting proposition, since Wade is not known to get along with the younger players on the Bulls all that much, you have to consider what the effect is going to have on team chemistry.

In the NBA basketball betting odds posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, this game is a pick'em affair:

Chicago Bulls pick
Boston Celtics

Over 213.5 points -110
Under 213.5 points -110

The Bulls have allowed 46.6% shooting at home, which is not impressive at all, and their opposition has shot 50% or better in four of the last five games. If they don't have Wade available, that hurts them even further. The good news is that Jimmy Butler came back to action on Tuesday night after missing three of the previous four games, and he scored 19 points, while dishing out 12 assists. Butler comes back just in time for his All-Star game appearance, but he is also needed offensive weapon, especially if Wade is not around.

Boston, of course, features the second-leading scorer in the NBA in Isaiah Thomas, who trails only Russell Westbrook and averages 29.9 points per contest. The Celtics are decidedly the better three-point shooting team, hitting 36.9% of their shots, while the Bulls are only 31.8% accurate from beyond the arc. Chicago did pull an upset of sorts on Tuesday night, beating Toronto 105-94, so they are coming into this game on a high note.

These teams have played twice this season, and they have both won on their own home floor. On October 27, Chicago came away with a 105-99 victory, while Boston beat the Bulls 107-100 on November 2. The Celtics shot 48.5% over those two games. But the Bulls pulled down through 33 offensive rebounds, and that is not especially surprising, since they are second in the NBA in that category. Keep in mind that the Celtics are not only 18-8-2 ATS on the road, they are also a solid 8-4 ATS in back-to-back situations.

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