Tip-off: 0105, 07/12/2019
Stadium: TD Garden
TV: Sky Sports
Boston will aim to continue their flawless home record when they host fellow high-flyers Denver in a highly-anticipated clash at TD Garden.
The Celtics have seen off some of the bigger hitters already at this venue, defeating defending champions Toronto Raptors, the Milwaukee Bucks and, most recently, the Miami Heat on Wednesday evening with a 112-93 victory to extend their record to 8-0.
Denver have lost two of their seven road trips, at the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings last time, so the match tips in Boston’s favour based on 2019-20 season form.
Recent history also leans towards a Celtics success too, with Brad Stevens’ outfit winning three of the last five head-to-head contests on home turf – by four, eight and six points respectively.
With this in mind, it is hard to look at anything other than a home triumph and 18/5 for a margin of victory of 6-10 points is our first Celtics vs Nuggets prediction.
A Look At Boston Celtics’ Betting Odds
Boston will be hoping to improve on their fourth-placed finish in the Eastern Conference last season, which culminated in a 4-1 semi-final defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Play-offs.
They have shown no signs of missing Kyrie Irving, who left the Celtics to join the Brooklyn Nets in the summer, and that is because of the recruitment of Kemba Walker from the Charlotte Hornets.
The point guard has averaged 21.9 points and 5.1 assists from 19 games thus far and he has been aided by the vast improvement of young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to help them up to third in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum is at 21 points and seven rebounds per game this campaign, compared to 15.7 and six in the respective stats for the whole of the 2018-19 season, while Brown has increased his points average to 19.9 and rebounds to 6.9 per match.
Walker has been more prolific at TD Garden since arriving in Boston, averaging 29.7 points and attempting 10.7 three-pointers – compared to 17.4pts and 7.8 efforts from behind the arch on road trips.
Stevens’ team have struggled in cross-conference matches, which could favour Denver, as they are 5-3 against Western outfits, but we fancy Boston to come out on top.
Boston have scored 103 points or more in all eight of their matches at this venue and with bwin offering 91/100 for the home side to score over 103.5, we believe that is a shoo-in and is our second selection from the Celtics vs Nuggets odds.
A Look At Denver Nuggets’ Betting Odds
Denver sit second in the Western Conference after winning their first match in three at the struggling New York Knicks on Thursday evening with a 129-92 triumph at Madison Square Garden.
The Nuggets had succumbed to defeats at the Kings and at home to Western Conference leaders Los Angeles Lakers but will hope to get on a similar run to the six-match winning streak they were on before the overtime loss in California.
Head coach Michael Malone will be looking at Nikola Jokic for inspiration as the Serbian center looks to build on recent form on the boards, especially during their winning run.
The seven-footer claimed 10, five, 12, 16, 12 and 20 rebounds in the flawless run and if he dominates once again in Boston – like he did in New York with a further 10 boards – it could be a good omen for the Nuggets.
Jokic has averaged 14.9 points per game too, with Paul Millsap and Jamal Murray in decent form as well, so it will be a tough encounter for the home side, despite the Nuggets sitting 21st for team points per game – at an average of 107.3.
However, with a 7-1 record in cross-conference clashes and the fact they have scored at least 100 points in their last five trips to Boston, we recommend Denver to score over 100.5 match points at a price of 91/100 to complete our Celtics vs Nuggets betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
BOSTON 112-93 Miami
New York 92-129 DENVER
Head-to-head: Denver 96-92 Boston, Boston 95-82 Denver, Boston 105-114 Denver, Denver 115-107 Boston
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