The Boston Celtics return home after a long road trip and in their first game back at TD Garden, they will take on the Washington Wizards. This game will the last leg of the Wizards’ own four-game road trip.

Catch this game live on Saturday, January 9, at 8:30 AM, Manila time

HOME TEAM: Boston Celtics (6-3, 2-1 at home)

The Celtics are starting to stack up wins after an inconsistent start to the season. They are coming off a nice four-game road trip in which they went 3-1 straight up and 2-2 against the spread.

It’s been the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown show so far for the Celtics.  Over their last three games, Tatum has averaged 30.3 points, while Brown put up 23.7. Both are shooting above 50 percent in that span.

With a number of Celtics questionable to play this Saturday like Robert Williams, Tristan Thompson, and Jeff Teague, the burden on offense could be heavier for  Tatum and Brown.

However, they might not find it hard to get buckets against the Wizards’ defense that’s been allowing 122.9 points per game this season. That’s the third-worst scoring defense in the league.

ROAD TEAM: Washington Wizards (2-6, 2-2 on the road)

Just when it looked like the Wizards were starting to figure out how to win, they went straight back to the loss column after getting beat up by the Philadelphia 76ers on the road last Thursday, 141-136.

The Wizards wasted Bradley Beal’s monster effort in the Sixers game. Beal scored 60 points on 20-of-35 shooting from the field with seven rebounds and five assists across 38 minutes of action against Philly. Russell Westbrook chipped in 20 points and 12 assists.

Westbrook is questionable to play against Boston as he is still feeling pain in his finger that got dislocated late in the Sixers game. 

If he can’t go, Raul Neto and Ish Smith are going to split most of the quarterbacking duties for Washington, which is second in the NBA in scoring, as the Wizards are averaging 120.8 points per game. After getting treated like a punching bag by Joel Embiid. Wizards center Thomas Bryant can pick up the pieces against the Celtics’ banged-up frontcourt.

The Wizards are among the best covering teams on the road, as they are 4-0 against the spread in all four of their games away from home this season.

PREDICTIONS:

Bradley Beal is not going to get 60 points nor would he even reach 30. The Celtics are going to shut down Beal and beat the Wizards, 122-110.