The Celtics will protect its unblemished record at home as they slug it out against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night at the TD Garden in Boston. The C’s are hosting the match after a day off following a huge win against the Miami Heat on Wednesday while the Nuggets are playing the second night of a back-to-back, having traveled from New York where they snapped their two-game slide at the expense of the Knicks.

The Brad Stevens-led Boston squad is 8-0 in Massachusetts and currently at the second spot in the Eastern Conference with a 15-5 overall tally, just three games back of the hot-streaking Milwaukee Bucks.

Nikola Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets have been playing well on the road too as they accounted for a 5-2 record as guests. They are gunning to regain their bearings as they chase the Los Angeles teams in Western Conference standings. At third, Denver carries a 14-5 win-loss register behind the Clippers’ 16-6 and Lakers 19-3.

Marcus Smart is listed as questionable in this game due to an oblique injury. Gordon Hayward will remain side-lined but reports say the 29-year-old former Butler University standout may practice at the weekends. Celtics’ general manager Danny Ainge said, “I don’t want to get ahead of myself and get too excited about it, but I think he’s progressing really well.”

Odds:

The Boston Celtics are marked as 3.5-point favorites in this game while the total line is offered at O/U 203.

The Nuggets have been covering the spread five times in the last seven games they played on back-to-back nights. The record, however, is reversed when they play teams above .600, 2-5.

The Celtics have been seizing every handicap line pegged at them in the last 10 games they played a winning team, dropping only a game ATS. Nonetheless, they have been failing to beat the spread six times in the last eight games they are flagged as home favorites.

Looking at the total trend, the OVER selection prevailed in the last seven times these teams meet in Boston. Same trend shows in the last eight games the Nuggets played as an underdog, 8-0 OVER. Still and all, the total in the last 10 games played by the Celtics went UNDER overall.

Prediction:

The Boston Celtics sure know how to finish off their prey inside their home floor. Back them straight up. But grab the Nuggets ATS. After all, they are 3-0-1 versus the handicap in the last four games they played the Celtics in Boston.

Go OVER the total line. The Nuggets may be giving up the least number of points per game in the NBA at 101.9 as the Celtics are sitting at No. 5 with 103.9 opponent points per night but the 203 line is just too low for them not to cover.

Jayson Tatum Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics reacts after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83 in Game 5 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden on May 23, 2018 in Boston. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
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