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The Boston Celtics travel to Denver to take on the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night in the first of two matchups this season between the two most recent NBA champions. The game takes place at 10 PM ET on TNT.
The Celtics are 26-10 and are second place in the Eastern Conference, 5.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are just 5-5 in their last 10 games. Denver is 20-14 and currently fourth in the Western Conference and have gone 6-4 in their last 10. The Celtics are 13-4 on the road this season, while the Nuggets are 10-6 at home.
Let’s break down each team’s recent play while previewing this matchup and making a Celtics @ Nuggets NBA pick.
The defending NBA champions continue to live and die by the three. Boston shot just 19.6% (9-for-46) from three-point range and scored a season-low 27 second-half points in losing at Oklahoma City yesterday, 105-92. The Celtics held a 65-55 halftime lead but were outscored 50-27 in the final two quarters. The win was the 15th straight for the Western Conference-leading Thunder.
Although they are averaging nearly 119 points per game, the Celtics are averaging just 114.9 points in their last 10 contests. They are still holding opponents to 104.6 points per game during that same stretch.
Jayson Tatum, a five-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection leads Boston with 28.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. Boston’s other “J,” Jaylen Brown, is averaging 24.9 points and 5.9 rebounds, although he was 0-for-7 shooting against the Thunder in the second half last night. Tatum led the Celtics with 26 points against the Thunder, while Brown had 21.
Nikola Jokić scored 46 points and added 10 assists and 9 rebounds while Michael Porter Jr. had 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets secured a split in a home-and-home with the Spurs with a 122-111 overtime victory in San Antonio yesterday.
Jokić, the three-time NBA MVP, is having another stellar season. He is second in the league at 31.5 points per game and third in the NBA with 13 rebounds per game. He has bumped those numbers in the past five contests, averaging 36.6 points and 15 rebounds during that time frame. He torched the Spurs for 87 points in their two back-to-back contests, and he has gone for 36 points or more in four of the Nuggets’ last five games.
The Celtics went 64-18 last season. They won their NBA-leading 18th title last June with a 4-1, jumping back ahead of their rival, the Los Angeles Lakers. The team won a combined 80 games last season. None of those wins came against the Denver Nuggets. Jokić and company took both matchups last season, a 102-100 victory in Boston, one of just four losses the Celtics suffered at home last season. The Nuggets also took a 115-109 decision at home over Boston in March.
Jokić averaged 33 points in those two wins, and with his current scoring prowess, he should continue in that vein. Look for the Nuggets’ leader to score 32 or more points as Denver continues its recent mastery of the Celtics.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.