NBA Basketball
2011-02-24 - Boston Celtics at Denver Nuggets
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Thursday 24 February 2011 - Tip-Off 10:30pm ET
3:30am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Boston Celtics (41-14) have already beaten the Denver Nuggets (33-25) this season when the Nuggets were missing Carmelo Anthony- now they meet again as the ripples of the Anthony trade to New York continue to effect this team and trade rumours continue swirling at the Mile High City.
Denver showed the remaining players at the team are still a unit when beating Memphis on Tuesday night and remaining firmly in the Western Play Off picture. Ty Lawson looked impressive in place of Chauncey Billups at the Point and now the team will be backed up by traded players Gallinari, Ray Felton, Wilson Chandler and Mozgov.
However, there are still some rumours that at least one, and possibly two of those players will be moved on before the deadline at 3pm Eastern Time today.
It will be interesting to see if Denver can have the same impact they had against Memphis when up against the best defense in the NBA. The Celtics are allowing just 88.1 points per game in the last 15 they have played, that being 3 points less than their season average.
The Celtics were led by Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as they pulled away from the Golden State Warriors in the second half in the first game back from the All-Star break. That win also maintained Boston's lead in the Eastern Conference as the Number 1 seed as Chicago and Miami continue the chase.
Kendrick Perkins has joined Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal as the big men on the sidelines for Boston. Glen Davis is likely to see additional minutes in their stead.
Ray Allen will also be looking forward to this game as his highest career average, 24.9 points per game, is against the Denver Nuggets.
Head to Head
Boston have won 3 of the last 4 games against Denver, by an average of 22.7 points per game no less, but have generally struggled in Denver.
The Nuggets have beaten Boston 5 of the last 6 times they have played at the Pepsi Center.
The home team is now 10-2 against the spread in the last 12 games in the series.
Denver are 13-15-2 against the spread at home this season, Boston are 14-11 on the road.
Denver are 14-15-3 against the spread on 1 days rest, Boston are 12-11-1 on the same amount of time of rest between games.
Other Interesting Notes
Denver are 14-31-6 against the spread in their last 51 games following an ATS win.
They are 14-5 against the spread in their last 19 home games against a team with a winning record.
However, they are 1-10 against the spread in their last 11 against teams from the same Division as the Boston Celtics.
Boston are 5-13-1 against the spread in their last 19 games following a straight up win.
The Celtics are 11-4 against the spread in their last 15 games as the road favourite by between 0.5 and 4.5 points.
Prediction
The Boston Celtics have to be favoured to come away with the win here for the following reasons:
Boston have been playing very well defensively of late and this could be a tough ask for the young Denver team to face this veteran group for the first time as starters.
While the newly acquired players of Denver have played the Celtics close with the Knicks earlier this season, they have to learn a new system compared with the up tempo Mike D'Antoni system in New York and trade rumours still swirl around where they will be playing after the deadline tonight.
The Celtics have also owned the Nuggets in recent games and beat them convincingly when Carmelo Anthony was missing earlier this season.
Finally, Boston will also have enough motivation in this game knowing their two closest rivals in the East are playing one another in the first of the televised double headers. One way or another, the Celtics have the chance to extend their lead over one of those teams and strengthen their chances of at least finishing in the top 2 seeds in the East.
I dont think Denver have made a horrible deal when trading Anthony, I just think it may take some time to see the best of them. The win over Memphis saw the players playing emotionally as they looked to boost the crowd and the fact they have lost Anthony and Billups may just have sunk in now.
I'll take the Celtics to win and cover.
The Pick :
Denver Nuggets 97-105 Boston Celtics
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll take the Boston Celtics - 3.5 Points @ 1.91 (3 UNITS)Follow me on Twitter @DavindaAulak- the direct link is below
