The Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics duke it out at the TD Garden on Friday night.
The Denver Nuggets have been in fine form as they’ve won seven of their past 10 games and they will be aiming for a third straight win after routing the Knicks in a 132-115 home win on Tuesday. Bones Hyland led the team with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists, Nikola Jokic tallied 21 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists, Will Barton scored 20 points with seven rebounds and five assists while Aaron Gordon chipped in with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. As a team, the Nuggets shot 54 percent from the field and 16 of 39 from the 3-point line as they dominated right from the start and never looked in danger after exploding for 83 in the first half.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics have been in red-hot form as they’ve won eight of their past nine games overall and they will be aiming for a seventh straight win after blowing past the Nets in a 126-91 road win on Tuesday. Jaylen Brown led the team with 22 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, Marcus Smart added 22 points, Jayson Tatum scored 19 points while Robert Williams tallied 12 points with 11 rebounds and three blocks. As a team, the Celtics shot 54 percent from the field and 14 of 40 from the 3-point line as they cruised in this one after dominating the first half by 69-43, allowing them to rest their starters early with no one playing more than 28 minutes.
Looking at the betting trends, the Nuggets are 3-1-1 ATS in their last five road games, 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Celtics are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games playing on two days’ rest and 8-22-1 ATS in their last 31 games following a win of more than 10 points.
Head to head, the under is 5-0 in the last five meetings overall, the Nuggets are 0-4 ATS in the last four meetings overall and the Nuggets are 5-13-1 ATS in the last 19 meetings in Boston.
The Nuggets have continued to tally on the wins and they looked great in their dominant win over the slumping Knicks on Tuesday, but the Celtics are coming into this one as the team in better form and they will be full of confidence after blowing out the Nets by 35 points in their last outing. The Nuggets will again be without Monte Morris and Michael Porter Jr, and they are only 5-13-1 ATS in the last 19 meetings in Boston, so I’m sticking with the Celtics to stay hot with another win and cover at home.