NBA: Denver Nuggets vs. Boston Celtics Preview, Odds, Prediction

The 8-3 Denver Nuggets are in Boston, where they meet the 8-3 Celtics. Both of these units have high hopes and want to win the title. The Nuggets are among the best teams in the league for the last three years, while the Cs had a chance to snatch the Larry O’Brien trophy last year. Though, despite them leading 2-1, the Warriors came out on top. Denver has all of its players at its disposal now, and Nikola Jokic can rest a little bit. It’ll be interesting to see MPJ and Murray against the tough Cs defense.

Preview

Denver Nuggets (8-3, +160) caught positive vibes and they have four wins in a row right now. Three of them were on the road, and even though the opponents weren’t some particularly notable teams, the Nuggets’ recent results have to be respected.

The latest games were in San Antonio, 115-109, and in Indianapolis, 122-119, with both contests being highly challenging for Mike Malone’s crew. The Pacers had an 18-point lead, and many believe that the guests from Colorado are about to experience a kick in the teeth. Yet the second half saw Denver scoring 66 points and allowing 49.

Jokic turned up the tempo in the final minutes, reaching 24 points, despite being in foul trouble early on. The Joker played only 21 minutes. Murray scored 18 points and had eight boards; Aaron Gordon also had 18 buckets, but he rebounded 16 times, which also needs to be credited. Caldwell-Pope ended the night with 15 buckets, and Bones Hyland had 16 off the bench.

Boston Celtics (8-3, -225) also have four in a row, two at home and two away from the TD Garden. At first, they were better than the Bulls in Boston, then there were back-to-back victories on the road, in New York and Memphis, before slicing the Pistons at TD.

The final result of this one was 128-112, and the Cs were confident from the start until the end. Boston shot 53.4% from the field, hitting 18 threes, and recording 31 assists.

Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 31 points with five assists, while Jaylen Brown had one point fewer, and seven boards, while Sam Hauser ended the night with 24 points, making six threes in 12 tries. These three guys were enough for the Cs to dismantle the guests from Michigan and show who is in charge.

Head to Head Games

Jokic and the boys don’t have the formula for the Celtics, and right now, they have five defeats in a row against this unit. Last year, the Cs were better at home 108-102, and later the same year in Denver, 124-104.

Prediction

This will be a good test for either unit. Jokic is playing well, but he tries to involve MPJ and Murray as much as he can in the game, preparing them for the important part of the season. The Cs have already caught the rhythm and adapted to Joe Mazzulla’s style and thoughts. All in all, we expect to see a tough matchup, and given the circumstances, our pick here is under. We remember last year’s event in Boston when we saw only 210 points.

Pick: Under 233.5 points -110