Boston Celtics (43-28) vs. Denver Nuggets (42-29)
March 20, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Denver Nuggets +3.5; Over/Under: -222.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Denver Nuggets play host to the Boston Celtics at the Ball Arena on Sunday night.
The Boston Celtics have been in red-hot form as they’ve won seven of their last eight games overall and they will be eager to stay hot after making light work of the Kings in a 126-97 road win on Friday. Jayson Tatum drained seven 3-pointers to lead the team with 32 points on 12 of 16 shooting, Jaylen Brown added 30 points on 11 of 18 shooting while Payton Pritchard chipped in with 14 points and eight assists off the bench. As a team, the Celtics shot a healthy 56 percent from the field and a sizzling 22 of 40 from the 3-point line as they exploded for 35 points in the second quarter to take a 19-point lead into halftime, before finishing with a flurry in the fourth quarter to make it a complete blowout.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have been in decent shape as they’ve won six of their last nine games overall, but they will be looking to bounce back in this one after coming up just short to the Cavaliers in a 119-116 overtime road loss on Friday. Nikola Jokic racked up 32 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists, Aaron Gordon added 20 points with eight rebounds and five assists while Bones Hyland provided the spark off the bench with 17 points and seven assists. As a team, the Nuggets shot 50 percent from the field and 10 of 33 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, before they wasted a five-point lead in the overtime period to allow the Cavaliers to slip away.
Looking at the betting trends, the Celtics are 7-2 ATS in their last nine road games, 5-1 ATS in their last six games against a team with a winning record and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Nuggets are 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games, 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Head to head, the under is 6-0 in the last six meetings overall, the Celtics are 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings in Denver and the Celtics are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings overall.
The Celtics are coming into this meeting as one of the hottest teams in the league lately and they will be full of confidence after blowing past the Kings in a dominant win on Friday thanks to big games from Brown and Tatum. The Nuggets have continued to tally up the wins thanks to Jokic who has been carrying the team all season, but they will be hoping for a better showing after suffering that painful overtime loss in their last outing. This should be a close one, but I’m taking the Celtics to get the win and cover in this spot.
