Boston Celtics vs Brooklyn Nets Prediction, 1/23/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Boston Celtics vs Brooklyn Nets

Date: Friday, January 23, 2026

Location: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

TV: YES

The Brooklyn Nets (12-29) will try to defeat the Boston Celtics (26-16) at Barclays Center on Friday.

The Celtics stepped onto the hardwood against the Pistons and took a loss by a score of 104-103 in their last game. In relation to fouls, the Celtics walked away with 22 and the Pistons recorded 21 fouls. They converted 11 out of their 35 tries from beyond the arc. Detroit finished shooting 73.9% at the free throw line by converting 17 of their 23 tries. Furthermore, Detroit snagged 38 boards (3 offensive, 35 defensive) and had 1 block. Detroit distributed 32 assists and had 9 steals in this matchup. In regard to defending, Boston allowed the other team to shoot 43.2% from the floor on 38 of 88 shooting. They also doled out 31 assists for the game while forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and having 10 steals. In terms of pulling down rebounds, they earned 42 with 15 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Celtics knocked down 24 of their 30 attempts for a rate of 80.0%. Boston finished the game with a 39.8% FG percentage (33 of 83) and buried 13 out of their 41 shots from distance.

Jaylen Brown is one guy who played a role in the game. He ended up finishing with 32 points on 11 out of 28 shooting. He saw the court for 39 mins played and also pulled down 11 rebounds. Brown shot 39.3% from the floor and also recorded 2 dimes.

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Boston steps onto the hardwood with a record of 26-16 on the year. They cough up possession 12.1 times per contest and as a team they commit 20.5 personal fouls every game. As a team, Boston is grabbing 44.9 rebounds per contest and has totaled 991 dimes for the season, which is 30th in the league in terms of passing the ball. The Celtics are connecting on 36.8% on shots from 3-point land (660 of 1,793) and 79.7% from the free throw line. They average 116.7 pts per contest (14th in the league) while connecting on 47.2% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Celtics are forcing 13.4 turnovers every game while drawing 18.6 personal fouls. They are 5th in the NBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,077 surrendered for the season. The Celtics defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 44.8% (1,629 of 3,639) and they concede 41.8 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are conceding 36.7% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 2nd in the NBA in opponents points per game (110.0).

The last time they took the court, the Nets took a loss by a score of 126-117 when they played the Suns. The Nets were able to pull down 31 defensive boards and 12 offensive rebounds for a total of 43 in this game. They turned it over 16 times, while getting 12 steals for this game. The Suns committed 22 fouls for this contest which got the Nets to the charity stripe for a total of 21 attempts. They were able to make 20 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 95.2%. In regard to shooting from distance, Brooklyn converted 15 of 38 attempts (39.5%). When the final whistle blew, the Nets went 41 out of 81 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.6%. The Nets allowed the Suns to make 44 of 77 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 57.1% in this contest. They went 51.3% from downtown by connecting on 20 out of 39 and walked away from this one shooting 18 out of 23 from the charity stripe (78.3%). When talking about rebounding, Brooklyn allowed Phoenix to get 45 in total (15 offensive).

Michael Porter Jr. pitched in for the Nets in the matchup. Porter had 23 points in his 37 mins on the court and earned 4 dimes for the game. He converted 10 out of 23 for the contest giving him a rate of 43.5%, and accumulated 6 rebounds.

Brooklyn has a mark of 12-29 so far this year. The Nets are committing 20.0 fouls per game while shooting 78.4% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 25.7 times per game (18th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 15.2 times per game. Brooklyn has earned 4,467 points this year (109.0 per contest) and they grab 40.0 boards per contest. When it comes to offense, the Nets are shooting 44.8% from the floor, which is 29th in basketball.

The Brooklyn defense surrenders 37.6% on 3-pointers (515 of 1,368) and their opposition knocks down 79.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 27.7 assists and 43.1 total boards per game, which ranks 27th and 10th in the league. The Nets on the defensive side of the court are 10th in the league in PPG given up with 114.3. They are forcing 14.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 48.8% from the field (28th in the NBA).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Boston

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