Boston Celtics vs Denver Nuggets Prediction: Denver to put up a fight on the road

Boston is a very uncomfortable opponent for Denver: The Nuggets have been unable to beat the Celtics for almost three years. The Colorado club is considered the underdog in the away game. Will the visitors be able to break their losing streak in head-to-head encounters?

Malcolm Brogdon was the Celtics' biggest off-season acquisition, and you can't say the addition of another near-stellar player has changed much about the team. Brogdon is averaging less than 25 minutes a game, although with more playing time he could be a contender for the NBA's top six. Malcolm was primarily recruited for his playmaking and defensive skills, and compared to last year's regular season, Boston didn't add much in terms of average assists. Brogdon was out the day before due to injury, joining Robert Williams and Danilo Gallinari on the sideline.

Joe Mazzulla's men have won their last 4 games without a loss, giving them a tie for 2nd place with Cleveland in the Eastern Conference. Last game, Boston defeated Detroit, 128-112, at TD Garden. At home, the Celtics traditionally played stout defense and missed very little from beyond the arc. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had near-perfect play: both shot safely on just over 50% shooting with 31 and 30 points, respectively. Sam Hauser was a pleasant surprise coming off the bench, hitting 6 three-pointers, while Al Horford made all 6 of his shots from the field.

The Nuggets have long been known for their depth, but now they have arguably the strongest roster in terms of skills and qualifications. Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are defensive specialists, but all three are also good offensively in some games. Bones Hyland is one of the most effective reserves in the league, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are capable of playing at a near-stellar level, and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic could basically be talked about at length. Let's also not forget Jeff Green, and rookie Christian Brown is already becoming useful role player on both halves of the court. As for losses, Zeke Nnaji is back from injury and Ish Smith is still out.

Michael Malone's men had a tough game against Indiana recently but pulled out a 122-119 win in a tightly contested finish. All five of Denver's starting five players scored 15+ points, while frequently missing open three-pointers. Caldwell-Pope was the Nuggets' leading scorer, hitting 3 of 4 attempts, and Hyland and Porter Jr. also hit well. Nikola Jokic was the highest scorer on the team with 24 points. He also had 6 assists and 2 steals.

The Celtics have won 4 of their last 5 games at home. Based on that trend, Boston’s win including overtime for 1.545 at 1xbet looks interesting.

Boston has allowed 110+ points in 4 of the last 5 games, so it might be worth betting on Denver’s ITO 111.5 points at odds of 1.71 at Bet365.

As said before, it is on their court that Boston tries harder on defense, but even against Detroit, they conceded more than 110 points. The Celtics are good primarily on position defense but the offense is inconsistent on the fast break and offensive rebounds. The home team also lost Brogdon, and Sam Hauser won't be able to throw as many dazzling performances as he did against the Pistons. Denver has a knack for moving quickly from defense to offense, and against Indiana, they were far from always taking good chances to shoot. It will be difficult for the Celtics to contain Jokic, and the visitors have good defenders to counter exactly the forwards Tatum and Brown. Our prediction for the Boston-Denver game is as follows:

• H2 (+5.5) for 1.845;
• TO (230.5) for 1.90;
• W2 (incl. OT) for 2.55.

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