Celtics vs Jazz

Jaylen Brown and the shorthanded Celtics head into Salt Lake City at 19-12, looking to bounce back from a road loss in Portland after a strong run of wins over Miami and a home-and-home sweep of Indiana, while the 12-19 Jazz ride a two-game surge over Detroit and San Antonio that snapped a four-game skid. With Jayson Tatum still out long term and rotation pieces like Chris Boucher and Amari Williams banged up, Boston has survived by leaning on Brown’s near-30 points per night, Derrick White’s two-way guard play and Payton Pritchard’s steady creation, whereas Utah’s recent momentum leans heavily on Lauri Markkanen’s 27.9 PPG and Keyonte George’s breakout, even as they juggle absences for Walker Kessler, Georges Niang, Ace Bailey and Kevin Love plus George’s illness tag. Utah already stole a 105-103 win in Boston in November and has shown it can exploit Boston’s smaller front line, but over 48 minutes the Jazz’s compromised depth and reliance on hot perimeter shooting make it tougher to trust them to repeat the upset against a deeper Celtics side still positioned near the top of the East. I’m backing Boston on the moneyline at -300, grading it a **B** because the favorite is more likely than not to get it done but the steep price keeps the monetary upside limited relative to the risk. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 30/12/2025 09:47([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/bos))

Utah’s attack has become one of the league’s more explosive units at around 120.5 points per game with Markkanen and George both scoring in the mid-to-high 20s, and Boston’s offense sits a tick lower at roughly 116.5 behind Brown’s near-30 a night, but that still leaves their combined scoring a few points shy of the 240 total and well below the 220 and 208 totals from their March and November meetings. With Tatum out of the picture, several Jazz rotation scorers (Niang, Bailey, Love) sidelined and George tagged as questionable, some of the most efficient shooting options are missing or compromised on both sides, which bumps up the odds of scoring lulls despite the headline firepower. Factor in Boston coming off a travel-heavy spot from Portland, Joe Mazzulla’s tendency to tighten the screws defensively on the road, and both teams’ willingness to run half-court sets through stars like Brown and Markkanen late in games, and this projects as a high-scoring contest that still has a good chance to land below such an inflated number. I’m playing Under 240 at -106 and grading it **B+**, seeing a strong balance of likelihood and value so long as the market continues to price this total strictly off raw season scoring averages. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 30/12/2025 09:47([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/utah))

Lauri Markkanen’s late-clock shot-making and the Jazz’s current two-game win streak at home make Utah intriguing catching +7.5 in its own building, especially after it already edged this Celtics group 105-103 in Boston earlier in the season. The Jazz are undeniably thin up front and on the wing with Kessler out for the year and Niang, Love and Bailey all sidelined, and they could be without a fully healthy George, but Boston’s own reliance on Brown and Pritchard to drive the offense without Tatum — plus a front line that can be pushed around by Jusuf Nurkic and stretch bigs like Markkanen or Kyle Filipowski — creates plenty of room for a competitive game script rather than a runaway. Recent Celtics results have featured a slew of single-digit margins, and with Utah’s offense humming again, altitude in play and the Jazz desperate to claw back toward the West play-in mix, there’s a reasonable path to Boston winning while Utah still stays inside two or three possessions. I’ll grab Utah Jazz +7.5 at -106 and assign it a **B-** grade: decent value given the matchup history and spot, but more fragile than the total if George is ruled out and the spread doesn’t adjust enough before tip. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 30/12/2025 09:47([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/bos))