Two of the hottest teams in the NBA will meet in this Friday interconference matchup when the Denver Nuggets head to Boston to face off with the Celtics on Friday night in a possible NBA Finals preview.
The Nuggets have won six of their last seven games and four straight to find themselves at 8-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the Celtics have also won four straight games and are sitting at 8-3 on the year. Which team will continue their hot streak and come away with a big early-season confidence boost?
Read our NBA picks and predictions for Nuggets vs. Celtics on November 11 below to find out.
Nuggets vs Celtics best odds
Nuggets vs Celtics picks and predictions
Two of the best offenses in the NBA will clash tonight, as the Celtics average 118.7 points per game, which ranks second in the NBA, with the Nuggets a hair behind at 116.7 ppg ranking sixth.
Both teams are fantastic shooting teams as well. The Nuggets rank first in the NBA in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage. The Celtics rank third in the league in both field goal percentage and 3-point percentage and they have made more threes than any other team in the NBA.
When you get two teams that both shoot efficiently, the rebounds will be hard to come by. The Celtics rank 22nd in the league in total rebounds per game and 28th in offensive rebounds. The Nuggets, conversely, allow the fifth-fewest rebounds per game.
Not only do the Celtics as a team not get a ton of rebounds, but they also split them up evenly amongst multiple players. The leading rebounder is Jayson Tatum, a small forward, at 6.9 rebounds per game, and starting big man Al Horford only averages 6.0, which ranks third on the team.
When the Nuggets face teams like the Celtics who rebound by committee, they typically don’t allow anyone to get near double-digit rebounds. The Oklahoma City Thunder are a recent two-fold example, with nobody topping seven rebounds in their November 3 matchup, and only guard Josh Giddey grabbing more than seven rebounds in the first meeting on October 22.
Horford is the player I am looking at for a low rebound total in this game. His total is sitting at 7.5, even though his season average is only 6.0 and the Nuggets are one of the best teams in the NBA at preventing rebounds. Horford has only gone Over this total twice this season and tonight will not be the third time.
My best bet: Al Horford Under 7.5 rebounds (-135 at PointsBet)
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Nuggets vs Celtics spread analysis
While rebounds will be hard to come by for the Celtics, points should not. The Nuggets allow 114.4 points per game, which ranks 20th in the NBA. They are also ranked 21st in the league in defensive rating.
On top of that, the Nuggets allow the 19th-most 3-point field goals per game, and the Celtics are the top 3-point shooting team in the league. Tatum and Brown should be able to get plenty of shots off in this one and will be lighting up the scoreboard.
The Nuggets are 1-4 against the spread in their last five road games, and 3-10 ATS in their last 13 games following a straight-up win. They are also 1-5 ATS in their last six meetings with the Celtics and 6-13-1 ATS in their last 20 games in Boston.
The Celtics will be without Malcolm Brogdon tonight, but those minutes will likely just be dispersed more between Marcus Smart and Derrick White rather than the Celtics needing a Payton Pritchard-type player to step up and play a role. I like the Celtics at home to win and cover to continue their winning streak.
Nuggets vs Celtics Over/Under analysis
All signs point towards a high-scoring game as these are two of the premier scoring offenses in the NBA and neither defense is anything special right now. The total is set high at 230 points, but that’s just the norm for the Denver Nuggets this year. This will be their seventh instance of a total that high this season.
Both teams have slightly favored the Over, at 6-5 in Nuggets games and 7-4 in Celtics games this season. The Over is 8-1 in the Nuggets’ last nine games following an ATS loss, and 4-1 in the last five Celtics games overall.
This game is undoubtedly going to be a shootout. The likes of Brown and Tatum will be lighting it up for the Celtics, but also the Nuggets have Jamal Murray, Bones Hyland, and today's NBA prop picks target, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, to get hot from deep. Give me the Over here.
Nuggets vs Celtics betting trend to know
The Over is 5-1 in the Nuggets’ last six road games. Find more NBA betting trends for Nuggets vs. Celtics.
Nuggets vs Celtics game info
| Location: | TD Garden, Boston, MA |
| Date: | Friday, November 11, 2022 |
| Tip-off: | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | NBA TV |
