Through 20 games, the Boston Celtics have proven they belong with the NBA elites.
They'll have to prove that again Friday night.
The Celtics welcome the 14-5 Nuggets to TD Garden, hoping to avenge their 96-92 loss in Denver two weeks ago. The Nuggets have lost two of their past three, but they're still a deep, talented team led by elite scorer Jamal Murray and versatile big man Nikola Jokic.
Who has the upper hand in this clash of NBA titans? We think we have a good read on the situation, and we'll share our take with our moneyline, point spread and point total betting predictions for Celtics-Nuggets, along with two NBA locks against the spread.
(All odds provided by WestGate Superbook.)
Denver Nuggets at Boston Celtics, 8 p.m. ET
Boston Celtics
Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Nuggets, which tips off Friday at 7 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike & Tommy have the call at 8 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.
Moneyline: The schedule gods are favoring the Celtics (-160). Like the Heat on Wednesday night, the Nuggets come to Boston on the second night of a road back-to-back. Denver is 6-2 on the road, but it's also 0-1 on the second night of back-to-backs this season. I'll take the C's.
Point Spread: The Celtics would love to have Marcus Smart (questionable with an abdomen contusion) back for what should be a grind-it-out defensive battle. This one will be close, but the strong play of Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker will help the Celtics (-3.5) keep their home winning streak alive and improve to 6-2-1 against the spread at TD Garden.
Point Total: The under seems like the logical play here considering these are two of the best defenses in basketball. But the total is set at 203, and the Celtics haven't scored fewer than 103 points at home this season. If this is a close game as I predict, both teams will barely top 100, pushing the total OVER.
Darren's record picking the Celtics' moneyline, point spread and point total: 28-19-1
NBA Locks of the Night
Washington Wizards at Miami Heat (-10.5): After a grueling back-to-back in Toronto and Boston, the Heat get a home date with the worst defensive team in the NBA. Sharpshooters Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro should have a field day.
Los Angeles Clippers at Milwaukee Bucks (-3.5): What an awesome game between two NBA title contenders. The Bucks didn't see Kawhi Leonard and Paul George last time these teams met, but they also weren't riding a 13-game winning streak. The Clippers are 2-6 against the spread on the road, so make that 14 in a row for Milwaukee.
Darren's record picking NBA locks against the spread: 17-14-1