Who’s playing
Boston Celtics @ Houston Rockets
Current records: Boston 25-9, Houston 22-11
How to watch
- When: Friday January 3, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET
- Or: Toyota Center – Houston, TX
- TV: NBC Sports Boston
- Follow: CBS Sports app
- Online broadcast: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket cost: $57.42
What you need to know
The Rockets will be in front of their home fans on Friday, but a look at the seeding shows they might need that home-court advantage. They will host the Boston Celtics at 8 p.m. ET at the Toyota Center. The Rockets defense has only allowed 106.4 points per game this season, so the Celtics offense will have its work cut out for it.
The Rockets are heading into this one after oddsmakers pegged last week’s low/under at 221, but even that proved too high. They won against the Mavericks by a score of 110-99 on Wednesday.
Alperen Sengun stood out offensively in the game going 9 for 16 en route to 23 points plus six rebounds and six steals.
Even though they won, the Rockets struggled to get the ball on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. This is the fewest offensive rebounds they have recorded since April 2024.
Meanwhile, the Celtics recorded their closest victory since November 24, 2024 on Thursday. They prevailed in a close game against the Timberwolves, outscoring 118-115. After predicting a close victory for Boston, the oddsmakers were right.
Jayson Tatum was his usual excellent self, nearly dropping a double-double with 33 points and nine assists.
Houston’s victory improved its record to 22-11. As for Boston, they have performed well recently as they have won three of their last four games, which has given a nice improvement to their 25-9 record this season.
The Rockets fell short against the Celtics in their previous matchup in January 2024, losing 116-107. Can the Rockets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll know soon enough.
Odds
Boston is a slight favorite with 2.5 points against Houston, according to the latest NBA Odds.
The punters were perfectly in tune with the betting community on this point, as the game opened with a 2.5 point spread and stayed there.
The over/under is 221.5 points.
See NBA Pick for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Boston has won 7 of its last 10 games against Houston.
- January 21, 2024 – Boston 116 vs. Houston 107
- January 13, 2024 – Boston 145 vs. Houston 113
- March 13, 2023 – Houston 111 vs. Boston 109
- December 27, 2022 – Boston 126 vs. Houston 102
- November 22, 2021 – Boston 108 vs. Houston 90
- October 24, 2021 – Boston 107 vs. Houston 97
- April 2, 2021 – Boston 118 vs. Houston 102
- March 14, 2021 – Boston 134 vs. Houston 107
- February 29, 2020 – Houston 111 vs. Boston 110
- February 11, 2020 – Houston 116 vs. Boston 105
