The Boston Celtics have outperformed even the loftiest of expectations through 18 games of the regular season. Despite the loss of Gordon Hayward for the season and Kyrie Irving getting his face broken by a teammate, the Celtics have rattled off 16 straight wins and own the NBA’s best record as we near the quarter pole of the season.
It’s an impressive feat, as the Celtics, which entered the season with little in the way of continuity, have managed to put together the NBA’s best defense so far this season. They have wins over the Spurs, Warriors, and Raptors on their current win streak, bolstering the credentials of their run in the face of any criticism that they’re simply beating up a weak East. Not only are the Celtics winning, but they’re doing so in impressive fashion almost every night.
Boston’s average margin of victory on their 16-game win streak is 10.25 points, with a 27-point win over the Kings and a 1-point win over the Raptors as their high and low points along the way. Oddsmakers have yet to find a way to catch up to the Celtics as Boston’s win streak has torched books to the tune of a 15-2-1 record against the spread which, according to OddsShark, is the best start to a season in their records (dating back to 1997).
The Celtics aren’t just covering, but covering without much difficulty. Monday night’s cover in Dallas was miraculous, erasing a massive deficit to force overtime and then covering the 7-point spread in the overtime period with the 8-point win. However, in most other games, it’s been a pretty easy cash for bettors, with Boston covering by an average of 6.1 points per contest, per TeamRankings.
The 15-2-1 record shakes out to a cool 88.2 percent cover rate, which means if you were blindly wagering $100 on every Celtics game this season (not letting it ride, just $100 on the Celtics side) you’d be up a smooth $1,165. This is where I assure you this hot streak won’t continue for the entire season, at least at this pace, and some kind of regression to the mean is coming as oddsmakers make the necessary adjustments. So, riding Boston’s hot hand might be a good choice, but keep your eye on it and if they begin to cool be ready to pull the ripcord.
Almost as impressive as the Celtics’ run against the spread is that of Philadelphia, as the Sixers are 13-3 ATS (81.2%) in the early part of the regular season, covering by an average of 2.8 points per game behind the play of Joel Embiid, Robert Covington and Ben Simmons. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Cavs are the worst team in the NBA against the spread at 5-11-2, followed closely by the Kings at 5-10-2, with both failing to cover by an average of 5.2 points per game.
