Boston Celtics at Denver Nuggets Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The Boston Celtics head to Denver to face the Nuggets on Sunday night. This game could be a potential look at the NBA Finals since both teams are quite strong. The Boston Celtics come in as narrow favorites in this game, and for a good reason.

They recently took two strong wins on the road against the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. They'll look for a third here.

The Denver Nuggets come off of a close loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers' defense proved to be too much for the Nuggets to game plan against.

However, they'll have a chance to bounce back, and luckily, they're back at home. We'll have to see if playing in front of their won crowd will make a difference here. So, who should you bet on in this Sunday game?

Boston Celtics: Tatum & Brown go to work against Denver

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for a whopping 62 points in their game against Sacramento. Tonight, these two are going to need to find a way to have a similar performance.

The good news is, they've played incredibly well against the Nuggets in the past. Over their last three meetings, the Celtics are 3-0 when facing the Nuggets and are 2-1 against the spread. 

Their defense here will play a huge role as well, which benefits the Boston Celtics. In terms of points allowed per game, the Celtics rank first in the NBA with 103.58. This defense allows them a bit of room to breathe against the 11th-ranked offense of the Nuggets.

Obviously, Nikola Jokic is the player to stop in this one. However, the Celtics have done a good job of it in past games.

Denver Nuggets: Losses aren't something they can afford now

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, there isn't a lot of room for error in this game. If they lose, there's a chance they could surrender their positioning to the Minnesota Timberwolves. This would drop them back to 7th in the Western Conference.

At home, the Denver Nuggets have gone 20-13 this season, so you'd think they have an advantage. However, they're 13-20 ATS at home. 

The offense of the Nuggets ranks 11th in points per game, averaging 111.44. What they'll need to do against the Celtics is avoid allowing the Celtics to control the pace. If Boston can control the game speed, the advantage goes to Boston.

Finding ways for Jokic to get optimal scoring opportunities is important as well. Still, other Nuggets players need to step their game up tonight.

Boston Celtics at Denver Nuggets Betting Pick

As we mentioned above, the Celtics are 3-0 against the Nuggets in their last three meetings. We believe this will change to 4-0 by the end of the night tonight. The Nuggets have a lot of players to try and stop on the Celtics lineup.

Not only do they need to stop Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Marcus Smart as well. Smart averages 22 points per game against the Nuggets.

We'll also take the Celtics to cover the spread in this game, especially since it's so small. Boston only needs to cover three points, something they should be able to do.

The Celtics are 20-15 ATS on the road; we expect that to improve to 21-15. We'll also take the under here since the Celtics have the best defense in the NBA.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Boston Celtics -3, UNDER

Prop Picks

Boston (-115) OVER 111.5 Points

Boston is averaging 109.7 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 16 in the league. That average increases to 110.8 points per game on the road and 114.2 points per game in the Celtics’ last five road games.

With Dunkel predicting a Boston victory by the score of 116-98, take the Celtics (-115) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 111.5 points against the Nuggets.

Will Barton (-125) UNDER 13.5 Points

Barton is averaging 14.7 points per game, which ranks No. 2 on the Nuggets. That average average decreases to 10.9 points per game over his last 10 games overall and 10.3 points per game in his 13 games versus Boston.

With Dunkel predicting a Boston road win tonight while holding the Nuggets under their team total, take the Barton (-125) to suffer on the offensive end and finish UNDER his Vegas total of 13.5 points against the Celtics.

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