Boston Celtics vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 1/7/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Boston Celtics vs Denver Nuggets

Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: Altitude

The Denver Nuggets (20-14) are hosting the Boston Celtics (26-10) at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

The Celtics faced the Thunder and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 105-92 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Celtics ended up with 18 and the Thunder had 18 personal fouls. They made 16 out of their 38 tries from beyond the perimeter. Oklahoma City finished shooting 84.6% at the charity stripe by making 11 of 13 tries. On top of that, Oklahoma City totaled 46 rebounds (9 offensive, 37 defensive) and got 5 blocks. Oklahoma City distributed 22 dimes and had 11 steals for the contest. In the matter of the defense, Boston let their opponent shoot 44.8% from the floor on 39 out of 87 shooting. They also dished out 17 dimes for the game in addition to creating 16 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Pertaining to hauling in boards, they earned 48 with 12 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Celtics made 21 of their 24 attempts for a rate of 87.5%. Boston finished the game with a 36.5% FG percentage (31 out of 85) and made 9 of 46 three-point shots.

Jayson Tatum is someone who was a contributor for this contest. Tatum finished the game shooting 41.2% from the field and dished out 1 assist. He was on the court for 39 minutes played and pulled down 10 rebounds. He left the arena with 26 points on 7 of 17 shooting.

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Boston enters this one with a win-loss mark of 26-10 on the season. They average 118.5 points per outing (4th in basketball) while connecting on 46.0% from the field. The Celtics are hitting 36.7% on shots from downtown (662 of 1,806) and 79.0% from the free throw line. As a unit, Boston is pulling down 45.1 rebounds per contest and has totaled 915 assists this season, which is 13th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. They are losing possession via turnover 11.9 times per contest and as a group they are committing 16.2 fouls every game.

On defense, the Celtics are able to force 13.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.9 personal fouls. They rank 6th in the league in giving up assists with 864 surrendered for the year. The Celtics are giving up a field goal percentage of 45.2% (1,462 of 3,232) and they surrender 44.1 boards per game as a squad. They surrender 35.5% on shots from downtown while they are 6th in basketball in points per game from their opponents (108.3).

When they last played, the Nuggets walked away with a victory by a final of 122-111 when they faced the Spurs. The Nuggets were able to corral 44 defensive boards and 14 offensive boards for a total of 58 in this game. They also gave up possession of the ball 7 times, while getting 11 steals for the contest. The Spurs committed 20 personal fouls in this contest which got the Nuggets to the charity stripe for a total of 23 attempts. They were able to knock down 18 of the free throws for a percentage of 78.3%. In the matter of shots from downtown, Denver buried 10 out of 33 tries (30.3%). When the final whistle blew, the Nuggets went 47 for 108 from the field which had them sitting at 43.5%. The Nuggets permitted the Spurs to knock down 41 of 104 attempts from the field which had them shooting 39.4% in this game. They went 27.1% from three-point range by shooting 13 of 48 and finished the contest at 16 of 18 at the free throw line (88.9%). Regarding cleaning up the glass, Denver allowed San Antonio to pull down 58 in total (13 on the offensive side).

Nikola Jokic was important for the Nuggets in the matchup. He converted 19 out of 35 for the matchup for a rate of 54.3%, and tallied 9 rebounds. Jokic scored 46 points in his 43 mins of playing time and had 10 assists in the matchup.

Denver has a mark of 20-14 for the season. The Nuggets are responsible for committing 18.0 fouls every game and they hit 76.3% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 31.7 times per game (1st in the NBA) and they are turning it over 14.1 times per game. Denver has accumulated 4,106 points for the season (120.8 per contest) and they collect 45.4 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Nuggets are hitting on 49.8% from the field, which ranks 3rd in the NBA.

The Nuggets on the defensive side of the court are 24th in the league in points allowed per contest with 117.2. They are forcing their opponents into 14.4 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 46.7% from the field (17th in the NBA). The Denver defense gives up 35.5% on 3-point shots (476 of 1,341) and their opposition makes 76.7% of their free throw shots. They concede 30.0 dimes and 43.9 rebounds every game, which ranks them 30th and 14th in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Denver

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