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The Boston Celtics are on the third of a four-game road trip heading to the Rocky Mountains to take on the Denver Nuggets in a Sunday night showdown. It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Celtics-Nuggets prediction and pick.
The Celtics demolished the Sacramento Kings 126-97 in their Friday night battle in Northern California. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown formed a two-headed monster combining for 62 points. Tatum scored 32 points on 12 for 16 shooting, including a scorching 7 for 10 from the 3-point line. Brown added 30 points on 11 for 18 shooting and 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. Most of their damage came in the first half, as they scored 42 points before the game reached halftime. The Celtics are fourth in a tight Eastern Conference race, sitting one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers for second place with 11 games left. However, they are a game and a half above the fifth-place Chicago Bulls. Boston has won two in a row and gone 7-1 over their last eight games.
The Nuggets lost 119-116 in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They now head home to face a red-hot Celtics team looking to continue the momentum. In the game against Cavs, Nikola Jokic scored 32 points on 15 for 24 shooting. He also pulled down 10 rebounds and generated eight assists. Aaron Gordon added 20 points on 9 for 15 shooting. The rest of the starters could not pull their weight, as they managed only 22 points. Additionally, the bench scored 42 points. Denver is currently sixth in the Western Conference and two and a half games behind the Jazz in the division and for the coveted first-round home-court advantage. The Nuggets are 20-13 at home this season.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Celtics-Nuggets odds:
NBA Odds: Celtics-Nuggets Odds
Celtics: -2.5 (-106)
Nuggets: +2.5 (-114)
Over: 221.5 (-110)
Under: 221.5 (-110)
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Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread
Boston has gone hit or miss on the road this season going 19-16. They have excelled on this trip, winning both games while blowing out the Kings and Golden State Warriors. Above all, they have dominated this recent history with the Nuggets.
The Celtics won the last matchup 108-102 at home in February. Tatum scored 24 points on 8 for 19 shooting. Marcus Smart added to the tally scoring 22 points on 6 for 16 shooting making 2 of 6 shots from beyond the arc. But Smart also nailed his free-throws shooting 8 for 10 from the line. Robert Williams brought down 16 rebounds. Boston has won four in a row in this series. They won a close game in their last affair due to edging out the Nuggets on the boards and holding the Nuggets bench to 32 points.
Tatum leads the Celtics in scoring, averaging 26.8 points per game. Williams has been a boards master averaging 9.6 rebounds per game. Smart is the distribution maven averaging 5.7 assists per game. The Celtics are pros at hitting their free throws as they rank third from the charity line. Additionally, they block shots well as they rank second in the category.
The Celtics will cover the spread if they can win the battle of the boards, hit their free throws, and force other players to beat them. Jokic will get his points, but Boston can contain him to an extent and cause chaos for the rest of the Nuggets.
Why The Nuggets Could Cover The Spread
Denver has persevered all season and has played well despite not having Jamal Murray available. Their loss to the Celtics last month was decided by inches in several different aspects.
Jokic scored 23 points on 9 for 20 shooting, including 3 for 10 from the 3-point line. He grabbed 16 rebounds. Gordon put up 17 points on 8 for 15 shooting. However, he went just 0 for 5 from beyond the arc struggling to hit deep shots. In addition to that, the Nuggets bench struggled putting up only 32 points. Despite that, they competed with the Celtics and almost won. They come home and could capitalize on the home-court advantage.
Jokic leads the Nuggets in three categories. He is scoring 26.1 points per game and averaging 13.7 rebounds per game. He also has distributed the ball well averaging 8.1 assists per game. His stats have helped the Nuggets rank third in the NBA on field goal percentage. They also hit their free throws ranking eighth in that category. The biggest key will be defense. In their last game with the Celtics, Tatum scored 24 points, but Brown struggled to score, with 12 points on just 4 for 17 shooting. That was a big reason the game was so close.
The Nuggets will cover the spread if they can hit their shots, nail their free throws and contain Brown and Tatum.
Final Celtics-Nuggets Prediction & Pick
The Celtics and Nuggets are competing for playoff positioning. Denver is trying to stay ahead of the play-in teams, holding a small half-game lead over the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. The Nuggets will find the motivation and make the right plays to end the four-game slide against Boston. Take the Nuggets to outright win and cool down the Celtics.
Final Celtics-Nuggets Prediction & Pick: Nuggets +2.5 (-114)
