🏀 Denver vs. Boston Preview and Prediction - 1/7/25 👀
A spicy East-West battle in Rockies with two of the NBA's best...or are they?
Two of the Association’s finest organizations over the past decade will meet in Denver tonight, where the hosts have finally put together some consistent performances, while the visitors are still shaking off the 2nd half pummeling they suffered at the silky hands of SGA and the Thunder a couple nights ago.
Boston just goes about their business, seemingly the same regular season team for….forever now. That’s not true, but it feels like Boston is the most bankable regular season team under this current regime and core group of players. They are masters of maintaining their energy levels, mixing and matching, and continuing to be an overall nightmare for teams on a regular basis. They currently rank 3rd this season in net efficiency overall, trailing only Cleveland and OKC, which says more about those two teams than it does about the Celtics, we think. Before losing the other night in a game that they controlled in the first half, Boston had won 3 in a row in convincing fashion, and they are currently in the midst of a long road trip that ends tonight.
NBA champions 2 years ago and led by the reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, Denver could be seeing the slow signs of decline that come with age and lack of spending from ownership come to fruition this season. Denver has struggled with consistency, which has led to a 20-14 record. Their lack of depth has been tested repeatedly this season, and while they have the stars to win any game, it is a big ask on a core that has a ton of extra playoff experience weighing on their legs. This is most evident in their bottom tier defensive ranking, as they tend to outscore teams with their offensive weapons. All that being said, the Nuggets come in to this one winning 4 out of their last 5, and they have consistently been putting up 120+ per game over this recent stretch.
The Celtics injury list is shockingly shenanigan-less for the most part tonight, but there is one notable cause for concern in the questionable (illness) status for Derrick White. He woke up this morning not feeling well, so lets hope he is fine by tip-off. Nothing much to note on the Denver side, except that Aaron Gordon remains out, a key piece that Denver will sorely miss in this one.
The Owl predicts:
Boston 128 Denver 118
If Derrick White is out, his 3-and-D will hurt the Celtics against a Denver team that can really score and struggles in transition on D. Even without White, the Celtics have to be fuming after their embarrassing 2nd half performance a couple nights ago in OKC, and they should be locked in for this one. That spells trouble for a Denver team that has been inconsistent this year and has been beating up on average and below average teams lately while still allowing a boatload of points defensively. Boston is deeper and will keep Denver at arm’s length.
Consensus odds currently:
Bos -5 O/U 237