NBA: Boston at Portland (10:30 PM ET, ESPN)

The night cap on ESPN finds the Boston Celtics playing 2,500 miles from home in Portland. That distance hasn’t proven a problem of late though, as the Celtics have won four of their L5 games there. Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com see that turning tonight tho

2010-02-19

The night cap on ESPN finds the Boston Celtics playing 2,500 miles from home in Portland. That distance hasn’t proven a problem of late though, as the Celtics have won four of their L5 games there. Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com see that turning tonight though, with the Blazers playing as the 2-point favorites.

Boston (34-18, 20-31-3 ATS) got away with another subpar offensive game, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 87-86 on Thursday night. Ray Allen scored 12 of his 24 points in the third quarter against a Lakers team that was without injured star Kobe Bryant.

The Celtics, who were held under 90 points for the third time in four games, are hoping their new guard, Nate Robinson, can provide a boost. Boston received Robinson and Marcus Landry in a trade with New York on Wednesday, giving up Eddie House, J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker and a future conditional second-round pick. Bean-Town backers wouldn’t mind if Robinson helped them cover a few more pointspreads, since they are 1-7 ATS off a cover.

With Marcus Camby now in town, Portland (32-24, 31-24-1 ATS) has one of the league’s top defenders. Camby is expected to make his Blazers debut Friday, giving them a much-needed post presence. Looking to fill the void left by Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla - who are both out for the season due to knee injuries - Portland acquired Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in exchange for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. He joins a team that is 2-5 ATS at home against clubs with a winning road record.

Camby was the defensive player of the year for the 2006-07 season and is a two-time member of the NBA all-defensive team. He’s looking forward to playing again with Portland point guard Andre Miller, his teammate on three playoff teams with Denver from 2003-05. “I love to play with Andre Miller because he is so unselfish,” Camby said.

Miller, though, may be without his backcourt mate, Brandon Roy, who is probable for this game because of a hamstring injury. After missing 15 of the previous 16 games, Roy tried to play against the Clippers on Tuesday night, but he ended up sitting out the second half of the Blazers’ 109-87 victory.

Roy is averaging a team-high 22.6 points. His injury caused him to miss Portland’s 98-95 overtime loss to Boston on Jan. 22. Allen hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in OT, giving the Celtics eight wins in their last nine matchups with the Blazers.

Oddsmakers have made Portland a two-point favorite with total of 186.5. Boston is .500 playing with no rest this season and 3-7 ATS (1-4 ATS last five). With the Celtics lack of offense, they are 7-1 UNDER in last eight contests, including five in a row. Portland has been surprisingly undistinguished at home with a 19-11 record (.500 ATS). The Blazers are however 20-8 ATS on Friday’s and 6-1 OVER.

Boston is 8-2 SU and ATS against Portland with 4-1 ATS (3-2 SU) mark at the Rose Garden. The StatFox Power Line shows a potential under-pricing, Portland by 6

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