Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics Prediction & Prop Bets - 1/9/2026
Updated January 8, 2026
Updated January 8, 2026
The Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics will collide on Friday night in a key Eastern Conference matchup in the NBA. Both teams enter this contest inside the top four in the East standings and will try to get a win that could help their seeding by the time the regular season concludes. The Celtics are slight favorites on their home floor at TD Garden as they aim to maintain their edge over the Raptors in the standings. Here, I break down this big game in the NBA and make my Raptors vs Celtics prediction.
Pick: | Celtics -8.5 |
Confidence: | 3/5 |
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The Celtics come into this game with a 23-13 record, sitting just a game ahead of Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings. Boston has been strong offensively and defensively in recent weeks, though they dropped their latest outing 114-110 to the Denver Nuggets despite a 33-point effort from Jaylen Brown and despite Nikola Jokic being out for Denver. Brown has been the engine of Boston’s offense with elite scoring numbers this season, filling the void left by the injured Jayson Tatum.
The Raptors (23-15) have won three straight games, including a dramatic 97-96 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. Immanuel Quickley hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in that game. RJ Barrett has been a stabilizing offensive presence since returning from injury and Toronto performs better with him in the lineup. However, the injury report clouds the Raptors’ prospects as both Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram are listed as questionable, and starting center Jakob Poeltl is out.
On the Celtics’ side, Tatum remains sidelined with a season-ending Achilles injury and Josh Minott is out with an ankle sprain. These absences could significantly impact Boston’s rotation. But both of these teams have done a nice job of overcoming their injuries so far this season and they will try to do more of the same here.
Player | Prop |
|---|---|
Jaylen Brown | Over 28.5 Points |
Derrick White | Over 3.5 Three-Pointers |
Score Projection: Raptors 109 – Celtics 120
Win Probability: Raptors 31%, Celtics 69%
I'm backing the Celtics on their home floor in this contest against the Toronto Raptors. Boston has been a little more consistent on the offensive end of the floor this season and they could be facing a Raptors team without two of their three best players here. That should be enough to help the Celtics win convincingly at home.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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