Stephen Nover's NBA Christmas Day Blockbuster
(NBA) Washington vs. Boston, 12/25/2017 12:30 PM, Score: 111 - 103
Total: 206.50 | -105.00 Over
Result: Loss
Peace on earth, goodwill to men. Those sentiments don't hold when the Wizards and Celtics get together. This is their first matchup since their contentious Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series that went seven games.

There's going to be a lot of intensity in this game. It's a day game, too. These are helpful factors to the Under. It's also a huge Under factor, too, that both teams are strong defensively.

Boston ranks second in the NBA in scoring defense and defensive field goal percentage. Part of this is the Celtics' ranking in the bottom-five in tempo. The Celtics aren't going to get in a track meet against John Wall. Washington has scored fewer than 101 points in five of its last seven games.

It's easy to think of Wall and his excellent backcourt mate, Bradley Beal, when talking about the Wizards. But Washington is better defensively than perceived. The Wizards rank No. 1 in 3-point defensive percentage and are eighth in defensive field goal percentage. During their last seven games, the Wizards have ranked in the top-five in defensvie efficiency.

The Under has been a sneaky good play in Wizards games covering 73 percent of the time during their past 26 games.