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The Boston Celtics (29-9) will try to remain unbeaten at home this season when they host the Houston Rockets (19-18) on Saturday night. Boston has lost two of its last three games, including a 135-102 loss at Milwaukee on Thursday. The Celtics still have the best record in the Eastern Conference though, sitting three games ahead of the Bucks for that distinction. Houston snapped its two-game losing streak with a 112-110 win at Detroit on Friday, moving into ninth place in the Western Conference.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on Saturday at TD Garden. Boston is favored by 15.5 points in the latest Celtics vs. Rockets odds, while the over/under is set at 228 points, per SportsLine consensus. Before entering any Rockets vs. Celtics picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters Week 12 of the 2023-24 NBA season on a sizzling 112-62 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning well over $4,000. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.

The model has set its sights on Houston-Boston. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for the game:

Celtics vs. Rockets spread: Celtics -15.5
Celtics vs. Rockets over/under: 228 points
Celtics vs. Rockets money line: Celtics -1380, Rockets +825
Celtics vs. Rockets picks: See picks here
Why the Celtics can cover
Boston set a franchise record for consecutive home wins to open a season when it beat Minnesota in overtime on Wednesday, improving to 18-0 at TD Garden. The Celtics are the only team in the NBA with a perfect record at home. Power forward Jayson Tatum poured in 45 points against the Timberwolves, shooting 13 of 26 from the floor and 6 of 11 from 3-point range.

Small forward Jaylen Brown added 35 points and 11 rebounds, finishing 9 of 16 from the field. The Celtics came up short at Milwaukee on Thursday, but they will be in a good bounce-back position in front of their home crowd. They have won six of their last seven games against Western Conference opponents, and they have covered the spread in five of their last six games against Houston.

Why the Rockets can cover
Boston has been the league’s best home team, but it has not been a profitable betting option in recent weeks. The Celtics have only covered the spread three times in their last nine games, and they are 2-10 against the spread in their last 12 games in January. They gave up a 25-0 run to Milwaukee in the first half on Thursday, getting blown out in a 135-102 final as 2-point underdogs.

Houston got back above the .500 mark this season with a 112-110 win at Detroit on Friday, as Fred VanVleet scored 17 points in the second half. Center Alperen Sengun led the team with 29 points and six rebounds, while shooting guard Jalen Green had 28 points. First-year head coach Ime Udoka is very familiar with Boston’s roster after leading the Celtics to the NBA Finals during the 2021-22 season. See which team to pick here.

How to make Celtics vs. Rockets picks
The model has simulated Rockets vs. Celtics 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning Under, and it’s also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 60% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Celtics vs. Rockets, and which side of the spread hits well over 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Rockets vs. Celtics spread you need to jump on, all from the model on a 112-62 roll on top-rated NBA picks, and find out

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, the NBA introduced a new player participation policy aimed at reducing load management and “reinforcing that we’re an 82-game league,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “If you’re a healthy player in this league, the expectation is that you’re going to play.”

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the new rules is that in order for players to be eligible for major awards, they have to appear in at least 65 games. For a game to count, a player must have registered at least 20 minutes. Said honors include:

MVP
Defensive Player of the Year
Most Improved Player
All-NBA team
All-Defensive team
As the season approaches the mid-way point, here’s a look at which stars are either in the danger zone or already eliminated from contention for missing too many games.

Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers: Missed 5/17 games
The NBA’s assist leader this season has only missed five games so far, but that number is going to keep climbing over the next few weeks while Haliburton recovers from a hamstring strain. Reports on Jan. 9 indicated that he’ll miss at least two weeks, which means a minimum of six more games on the sideline. Even in a best case scenario, he’s going to be well into double digit figures in games missed before the All-Star break.

Kevin Durant, Suns: Missed 7/17 games
The veteran forward has been the healthiest member of the Suns’ “Big Three,” and that’s saying something considering he’s missed seven games himself. He’s in the middle of another spectacular scoring campaign, but a few minor injuries here and there have kept him out of seven games so far. Given his health concerns in recent seasons — he hasn’t played 65 games since 2019, prior to his Achilles tendon tear — you have to wonder if he can hold up in the second half.

Devin Booker, Suns: Missed 9/17 games
Booker got off to a slow start this season, missing eight of the Suns’ first 10 games due to an array of leg injuries; he hurt his foot, ankle and calf in the span of a few weeks. Since then, he’s been back at an elite level — he’s averaging a career-high in assists — and has missed just one game. However, because of all the absences early, he can only miss eight more games if he wants to stay in the All-NBA conversation.

Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers: Missed 9/17 games
Mitchell made his first All-NBA appearance last season, earning a Second Team spot for helping the Cavaliers make the playoffs for the first time this century without LeBron James. He’ll need to stay healthy in the second half of the season if he wants to stay in that conversation, though. A hamstring injury and an illness that left him in bed for four days have kept him out of nine games already.

Joel Embiid, Sixers: Missed 10/17 games
Injuries are always a concern for the reigning MVP, who has never played in more than 68 games in a season. After a dominant start to the 2023-24 campaign, Embiid is once again an the MVP favorite, but a series of lower-body issues in recent weeks have raised concerns about his ability to get to 65 games. He’s missed 10 of the Sixers’ 37 games so far, which puts him at about a 60-game pace and removes much of his margin for error. Embiid can only miss seven more games the rest of the way.

Kristaps Porzingis, Celtics: Missed 10/17 games
The Celtics are once again an elite defensive team, thanks in large part to the Latvian big man, who arrived in a blockbuster trade during the summer. It seems unlikely that he will have a chance to get into the All-Defensive conversations, however, as he’s already missed 10 games and has a lengthy injury history. The team has been preventing him from playing in both halves of back-to-backs lately, and figure to be cautious with his health down the stretch.

Bam Adebayo, Heat: Missed 10/17 games
The Heat have been severely banged up this season, with star center Bam Adebayo near the top of the list in missed games. A hip injury kept him out for over two weeks at the start of December, and all told, he’s already missed 10 games. While his impact on the defensive end is undeniable, his hopes of making a fifth consecutive All-Defensive team will rest on his ability to stay on the court in the second half of the season.

Jimmy Butler, Heat: Missed 14/17 games
For someone who claims that he doesn’t start “playing for real” until after the All-Star break, Butler has made an All-NBA team five times, including three of the last four seasons. His odds of making the cut this time around are starting to look slim, though as he’s already missed 14 games. To that point, it’s worth noting that Butler has only played 65 games four times in his career.

Kyrie Irving, Mavericks: Missed 16/17 games
Irving has played well for the Mavericks, though with the elite young guards in the league nowadays he was always facing an uphill battle to make the All-NBA cut. In any case, he likely won’t be eligible come the end of the season. A fluke foot injury kept him out for nearly all of December and he’s already almost at the limit for missed games. Given his health history, he’ll almost certainly miss a few more between now and April.

Bradley Beal, Suns: Ineligible
Beal’s first season in the desert has been stop and start due to various injuries. A back problem that began in training camp prevented him from making his debut until November, then almost immediately forced him back to the sideline for another three weeks. Upon his return from that issue, he sprained his ankle and was ruled out a further two weeks. All told, he’s already far surpassed the maximum number of games he could miss.

LaMelo Ball, Hornets: Ineligible
The youngest Ball brother was off to an incredible start this season before suffering yet another ankle injury in late November. He has since returned, but not before missing 20 games over nearly two months. As a result, he has missed too many games to be considered for any postseason honors.

Ja Morant, Grizzlies: Ineligible
Morant recently suffered a season-ending shoulder surgery, but he was ineligible for any awards before play even began. That, of course, was because the league suspended him for the first 25 games of the season due to multiple instances of brandishing a firearm on social media. Injuries and off-court matters kept him off ballots last season as well, so this will be two consecutive seasons without any honors for the 2022 Most Improved Player and All-NBA Second Teamer.

CBS Sports will continue to update this story throughout the remainder of the season

The Chicago Bulls’ inaugural Ring of Honor ceremony on Friday night was marred by fans booing late GM Jerry Krause, which brought his widow to tears. The crowd’s reaction was widely criticized, with broadcasters, coaches and players all among those to call out the fans’ behavior.

Back in December, the Bulls announced that they would honor 13 franchise legends as well as the entire 1995-96 championship team as the first class of their new Ring of Honor. A three-day celebration was planned from Jan. 10-12, with the inauguration set for Friday night when Kerr and the Warriors were in town.

During the halftime ceremony, each member of the class was introduced and had their accolades read aloud. Krause’s widow, Thelma, was in attendance to accept the honor in Jerry’s place, and appeared visibly upset by the reaction when she was shown on the jumbotron.

Former Bulls GM Jerry Krause was boo’d during the team’s Ring of Honor ceremony at halftime.

His wife Thelma, who appeared in his place, was captured on the big screen and visibly emotional during the booing.pic.twitter.com/7zLAtOTZvc

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 13, 2024
Stacey King, who was drafted by Krause in 1989, won three titles with the Bulls from 1991-93 and now does color commentary for the team, was among the first to address the fans’ behavior.

“We just had a remarkable ceremony, bringing back the legends and I’m telling you what,” King said. “Chicago is a sports town and what we witnessed today when Jerry Krause’s name was called, and the people that booed Jerry Krause and his widow, who was accepting this honor for him, it was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I hurt for that lady, it brought her to tears. Whoever booed her in this arena should be ashamed of themselves… that was really classless and I was disappointed in the people that booed.”

Kerr, who also won three titles with the Bulls from 1996-98, and was honored as part of the 1996 squad, had a similar reaction during his press conference following the Warriors’ 140-131 win.

“I didn’t hear it, I was in the locker room, but somebody just told me about it and it’s shameful. It’s absolutely shameful,” Kerr said. “I cannot believe. I’m devastated for Thelma, for the Krause family. What can we possibly be thinking. I cannot believe that… the fans who booed, they know who they are. To me, it’s absolutely shameful, and I’m devastated by that.”

DeMar DeRozan, who has played for the Bulls since 2021, added to the chorus in the initial aftermath.

“That man has family, friends that are still here and ought to be appreciated,” DeRozan said. “He shouldn’t be disrespected in no type of way by hearing boos. It just sucks that his family has to endure something like that. You can never take away what he created.”

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A day later, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich added his opinion prior to the team’s game against the Bulls.

“I feel the same way about that as when Kawhi Leonard got booed here,” Popovich said. “It’s unnecessary. It’s impolite. It’s ignorant. If anything, it’s like a snapshot of the world we live in today. Meanness seems to be a lot more condoned.”

Krause, who passed away in 2017, was the Bulls’ general manager from 1985-2003, and credited with building their 1990s dynasty, which won six titles. He was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1988 and 1996, and posthumously inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Despite the success, his relationship with key figures on those teams, including Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, was fraught. Many fans also blame him for tearing everything down after the 1998 title, and he was not portrayed well during “The Last Dance,” the 2020 documentary centering on Jordan and that final season.

Draymond Green could suit up for the first time since 2023 as early as Monday. The Golden State Warriors forward hasn’t appeared in a game since last December because of an indefinite suspension the league issued following an altercation with Phoenix Suns big man Jusuf Nurkic, but has a “chance” to play in one of his team’s next two games, according to Steve Kerr.

“He’s been working out every day and I talked to him this morning,” Kerr told reporters on Saturday. “He said he’s coming around and feeling good, so there’s a chance he could play in Memphis or in Utah.”

The Warriors have gone 8-7 since Green was suspended and 1-2 entering Saturday night’s game against the Bucks since his suspension was lifted on Jan. 6. While the Dubs have missed the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year’s presence, they’ve gone just 7-8 with him available this season. Nevertheless, his return could help Golden State climb back into the playoff picture once he’s back in game shape.

Green began ramping up his workouts for a return shortly after being reinstated and was initially expected to need about a week. However, he wasn’t ready in time for his team’s Saturday clash with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Golden State will wrap up a four-game road trip after facing off against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. They’ll return home for a Friday matchup against the Dallas Mavericks to end the week.