Celtics try to stop skid in home tilt with Pacers

Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics will be attempting to avoid a third straight loss when the Atlantic Division leaders host the road-challenged Indiana Pacers tonight at TD Garden.

Boston followed up a two-point setback at red-hot Milwaukee on Tuesday with a forgettable home loss to Memphis the following night. The 111-91 defeat to the Grizzlies matched a 108-88 loss to powerhouse Cleveland as the Celtics' most lopsided of the season.

Memphis rolled to a 27-12 lead after one quarter and quickly extended the margin to 20 points early in the second. The Grizzlies kept pouring it on and took a commanding 55-33 advantage into halftime.

"I think it speaks for itself," said Boston's Kevin Garnett of the loss. "They came in and just totally annihilated us, nothing to it. I thought we played hard in spurts, but (it) seemed like whatever they threw up it went in."

Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen each scored 17 points to lead the Celtics. Garnett managed only six points and shot 3-of-9 from the field on the night.

Boston, which last lost three in a row between January 28-31, still owns a comfortable eight-game lead over second-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division. The Celtics trail Southeast leader Orlando by 4 1/2 games for the No. 2 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is four games behind.

A matchup with the Pacers, who stand last in the Central Division and 14th in the East with a 21-43 record, may help the Celtics get back on track. Indiana has lost six straight and nine of its last 10 outings on the road and is a woeful 7-27 as the guest this season.

The Pacers have also dropped four straight and eight of its last games at TD Garden, including a 103-94 decision there back on December 22. In addition, Boston has prevailed in seven of the past nine overall meetings in this series.

Indiana does head to Beantown on a winning note, however, after besting Philadelphia by a 107-96 count on Tuesday. The Pacers won despite having leading scorer Danny Granger unavailable due to a one-game suspension for a fight with Phoenix's Channing Frye in Saturday's 113-105 loss to the Suns.

Granger, averaging 23.1 points and 5.7 rebounds for the season, will be back in the lineup for this evening's tilt.

Dahntay Jones and Brandon Rush both stepped up in Granger's absence, with the former tying a season best with 25 points and the latter compiling 24 points and nine rebounds. Troy Murphy chipped in 19 points for Indiana and center Roy Hibbert had a strong all-around game, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from the post.

"Roy did a good job tonight of distributing the ball," Rush said. "He gave the ball to the open person, which repeatedly ended up in buckets."

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