Filip Tomic
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The defending champion Denver Nuggets hope to become the first team to win a game at TD Garden this season. as they take on the Boston Celtics tonight on ESPN. Tipoff is at 7.30 pm ET.
I have prepared a Same Game Parlay to spice things up a little. And for picks on the side and total for the rest of Friday’s 7-game slate, simply head over to our NBA picks page.
Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
Nuggets ML (+194)
Nikola Jokic over 0.5 made threes (-140)
Kristaps Porzingis over 1.5 made threes (-162)
Same Game Parlay odds: +617
Denver Nuggets ML over Boston Celtics (+194)
Boston is currently on a franchise record-setting 20-0 SU start in games played at TD Garden, but tonight’s opponent could be the biggest test so far this season. Denver needs a bounce-back performance following its poor defensive showing in the 126-121 loss at Philadelphia earlier this week. Unlike the Sixers, Boston doesn’t have a dominant force on the inside — so maybe Denver’s game-plan can work better tonight
The Nuggets have won 9 of their last 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents and are 14-5 SU in their last 19 overall. They also won the last meeting against the Celtics 123-111, I feel like there is plenty of motivation on their end to go all out in this game. I really like Nikola Jokic’s matchup with Kristaps Porzingis; the 2-time NBA MVP has notched 3 triple-doubles in the last 5 head-to-head with Boston. I’ll gladly take the Nuggets as road underdogs.
Read our full Denver Nuggets vs Boston Celtics predictions
Nikola Jokic, C, DEN, over 0.5 made threes (-140)
For only the 4th time this season, Jokic has failed to make a three-pointeer in back-to-back games. He is yet to have a streak of 3 or more games without a made triple, so I’m expecting that run to end tonight in Boston. The Serbian big man has actually upped his efficiency from three-point land from 37.1% in December to 50% in January, but his attempts are also down — which helps his percentages a little. Regardless, in order to become the first team to beat the Celtics on their home floor, Jokic will have to remind us why he is a 2-time MVP in this league. He is currently on a run of 4 straight games with 2 or more threes made in games played against the Celtics. I don’t think the likes of Porzingis and Al Horford are good enough defenders to bother him.
Kristaps Porzingis, C, BOS, over 1.5 made threes (-162)
KP missed the game against San Antonio earlier this week, so he should be fresh to face the Nuggets tonight. We saw a lot of flaws in the Nuggets’ defense in their loss to Philadelphia, particularly with their perimeter defense. The Sixers shot 48.4% from three in that game, while in their last 3 outings they are allowing opponents to shoot 38.7% from downtown. That’s music to the ears of Porzingis, who isn’t exactly your typical center that will wrestle you on the inside. Instead, he is more of a finesse big who love to step outside and drain the three-ball. That’s worked well for him in the past couple of months, Porzingis has upped his three-point efficiency from 28.1% in November to 32% to December and to 34.8% in January. He has made an average of 2.1 triples in his last 10 meetings with the Nuggets, while in the last 4 meetings he has had 2 games of at least 5 threes as a member of the Mavs back in 2021. With the Nuggets defense focusing on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for the most part, I think KP can go under the radar a bit and drain a couple of shots from long distance.
Catch our NBA mega parlay for today’s hoops action at +1113 odds
