Ricky Dimon

Stop busting brackets and sign up for the Pickswise March Madness Premium Picks now! Our expert picked Florida at HUGE +4000 odds last year and is up +30.7 units over the last 3 NCAA Tournaments! Get futures picks and daily best bets throughout all of March Madness, all for just $50. Click here to join and get 20% off before Selection Sunday!

It will be a potential NBA Finals preview when the Oklahoma City Thunder entertain the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. Defending champion Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference, while Boston is second in the East and has its sights set on the #1 seed now that Jayson Tatum is back on the floor and Detroit is scuffling a bit at the moment. Boston is probably too good to be getting a sizable number of points, so my Celtics vs Thunder prediction is for the visitors to cover. The C’s fell at San Antonio earlier this week, but they started their road trip with a victory at Cleveland and they boast a 14-4 record in their last 18 contests. Tatum has played in 3 games upon his return and is averaging 19.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 3.7 apg while logging exactly 27 minutes on each occasion.

Oklahoma City is also winning its fair share of games, but it isn’t crushing people. In their last 15 outings, the Thunder have prevailed by double-digits only 3 times. Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein are still sidelined, so why should be expect anything to change now that OKC has to face one of the best teams in the NBA? That being said, both Tatum and White are questionable for Thursday. It’s a load management thing for Tatum, while White has a minor knee contusion. It sounds like both should be available, but you never know. Let’s take Boston plus the points, but proceed with caution until their statuses are confirmed.

Celtics vs Thunder prediction: Boston Celtics +6.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP-winning campaign and announced during his speech that he would return for at least 1 more season. That’s enough for me. The Rams’ offense should continue to cook with Stafford under center, and their defense is stacked with young talent. They also own 2 first-round picks — #13 (from Atlanta) and #29 (their own).

LA really wasn’t that far off from winning this year’s Super Bowl. It lost an overtime thriller to Seattle in Week 16 that pretty much decided the NFC West and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Head coach Sean McVay’s squad then lost at Seattle in another thriller in the NFC Championship – a game that really should have been played in Los Angeles if not for the Rams’ 4th-quarter meltdown in Week 16. Give me Stafford to potentially go out on top next year.