3rd Quarter Report

Only one more quarter stands between the Celtics and the victory they were favored to collect coming into this evening. Sitting on a score of 82-81, they have looked like the better team, but there's still one more quarter to play.

The Celtics entered the matchup having won three straight and they're just one quarter away from another. Will they make it four, or will the Nuggets step up and spoil it? We'll know soon.

Who's Playing

Denver Nuggets @ Boston Celtics

Current Records: Denver 28-14, Boston 32-9

How To Watch

  • When: Friday, January 19, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Where: TD Garden -- Boston, Massachusetts
  • TV: ESPN
  • Follow: CBS Sports App
  • Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
  • Ticket Cost: $139.00

What to Know

The Boston Celtics will be playing at home against the Denver Nuggets at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday at TD Garden. The Celtics will be looking to keep their 20-game home win streak alive.

The Celtics were the big favorite in their most recent match, and for good reason. They blew past San Antonio 117-98. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 70-45.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets' game on Tuesday was all tied up 78-78 at the half, but sadly for them it didn't stay that way. They fell to Philadelphia 126-121.

The match pitted two of the league's most dominant players against one another in Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. Embiid had a great game and dropped a double-double on 41 points and ten assists. Meanwhile, Jokic did his best for the losing side, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 19 rebounds.

Even though they lost, the Nuggets were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as the 76ers only pulled down five offensive rebounds.

Boston has been performing well recently as they've won 17 of their last 21 games, which provided a nice bump to their 32-9 record this season. As for Denver, their defeat dropped their record down to 28-14.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. The Celtics haven't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 120.9 points per game (they're ranked fifth in scoring overall). However, it's not like the Nuggets struggle in that department as they've been averaging 116.3 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

The Celtics opened the new year with a less-than-successful 123-111 loss to the Nuggets. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Jokic, who dropped a triple-double on 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. Now that the Celtics know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.

Odds

Boston is a solid 6.5-point favorite against Denver, according to the latest NBA odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Celtics as a 5.5-point favorite.


The over/under is set at 234 points.

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Series History

Boston has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Denver.

  • Jan 01, 2023 - Denver 123 vs. Boston 111
  • Nov 11, 2022 - Boston 131 vs. Denver 112
  • Mar 20, 2022 - Boston 124 vs. Denver 104
  • Feb 11, 2022 - Boston 108 vs. Denver 102
  • Apr 11, 2021 - Boston 105 vs. Denver 87
  • Feb 16, 2021 - Boston 112 vs. Denver 99
  • Dec 06, 2019 - Boston 108 vs. Denver 95
  • Nov 22, 2019 - Denver 96 vs. Boston 92
  • Mar 18, 2019 - Denver 114 vs. Boston 105
  • Nov 05, 2018 - Denver 115 vs. Boston 107