Free Pick | NBA | Tuesday | March 12

Nelly’s is 55-34 in March/April NCAA picks the past two seasons. We had a winning 2/3 in conference tournament play Monday!

#553 Boston Celtics -6 over Utah Jazz 8:10 PM CT
With some roster questions heading into Monday, Boston played most of its key players and cruised to a comfortable win in Portland last night, winning by 22 to double-up the closing line on a number that grew substantially as game time approached. Boston kept minutes in check for most key players but will be facing back-to-back games tonight in a fifth consecutive road game, also playing at altitude in Salt Lake City. A bigger game with Phoenix is ahead on Thursday back at home but with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis more likely out again, Boston can’t really sit too many players. The Jazz don’t have Taylor Hendricks or Lauri Markkanen tonight and Utah has been on a miserable 2-10 run since February 8. The wins came against San Antonio and Washington for unremarkable results. On Saturday the Jazz lost by 21 at Denver and while home court is generally respected in Utah, the Jazz are just 2-5 S/U in the past seven home games. Boston was favored by 14 in a home win in January, winning 126-97 and Utah’s defensive efficiency in the past 10 games is second worst in the NBA, only slightly above Washington in the rankings. Utah being 21-10 ATS at home this season will draw some interest with the Celtics facing a back-to-back, but the Jazz haven’t looked like the semi-competitive team of mid-season lately.