Denver vs Boston NBA Hoops Handicapping
The Denver Nuggets will aim to get back into the win column when they visit TD Garden on Friday night to take on the lukewarm Boston Celtics who struggled in November. [ad-4468020]
Date/Time: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Broadcast:
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
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The Nuggets (11-7) had their seven-game winning streak snapped with a 98-88 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last time out.
Cleveland dominated the glass, outrebounding the Nuggets 58-43, while Randy Foye’s 16 points paced the Nuggets offense, who still shot under 39 percent from the field.
J.J. Hickson had 15 points and 11 rebounds while Nate Robinson added 14 points off the bench, which has been one of Denver’s strengths this season.
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Like so many other games this season, the Nuggets fell behind early, heading into the half down 56-52.
The Cavaliers created some distance in the third, and then used its defense to take control of the final quarter, holding Denver to one field goal over the first four and a half minutes.
Meanwhile, Boston (8-12) ended an early November six-game slide with a pair of back-to-back wins, but finished the month losing two of three.
The Celtics did however, begin December with a bang, beating the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 108-100.
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Jordan Crawford led the offense with 25 points, while Jeff Green added 18 points and Brandon Bass had 16 and nine rebounds. Green is averaging 23.3 points in his last four games.
It was a positive sign for Boston, who had fallen to the Bucks twice already this season.
Avery Bradley also helped out, scoring 15 points and went 3-of-6 from 3-point range as Boston drained 11 from beyond the arc.
Milwaukee kept it close throughout the third, but the Celtics defense clamped down to preserve the win.
Matt’s Prediction:
Both teams have had its share of ups and downs this season, and are pretty evenly matched in both shooting and rebounding coming into this game. However, Denver’s advantage comes from the bench, where it outshines Boston 45 PPG to 30 PPG on average.
Denver is 5-5 on the road while the Celtics are just 4-5 at the Garden.
This one is a hard one to predict just because each of these teams has not necessarily been consistent, losing to teams they should be beating. Nevertheless, I expect Denver to rebound here, starting its December push with an anticipated road win.
Denver 98, Boston 87
