Boston Celtics want to make a step closer to the home-court advantage in the East when they take on the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
The Celtics are coming off a couple of impressive road wins over the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. They are in the middle of a four-game road trip that will end Tuesday vs the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Boston (43-28) has been unstoppable since late January and has won 18 of its last 21 games. As a result, they are just one game below second-placed Philadelphia 76ers (43-26) and four below conference leaders Miami Heat (47-24).
The Celtics have the best defense in the entire league, conceding just 103.6 points per game. An identical number on Sunday will give them the upper hand in the contest.
On the other hand, the Nuggets saw their seven-game road winning streak come to an end on Friday. The loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers (116-119) means Denver (42-29) is just 0.5 games above 7th-placed Minnesota Timberwolves (42-30).
The hosts will seek to return to the winning track, as they enter a crucial four-game set at home. Denver could fall to the play-in tournament, but is also just 2.5 games below fourth-placed Utah Jazz (44-26).
“Control what you can control. We’re not allowing teams ahead of us or behind us to determine how we approach each game,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said, via NBA.com.
The hosts will once again rely on Nikola Jokic to win the game, as the team is waiting Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to make their return.
Both players have been out long term, but are now getting closer to play again. Denver has assigned the two players to its G-League affiliate to practice and work on their physical condition.
This will be the last game between the two teams in the regular season. The Celtics will seek to sweep the series, as they defeated Denver at TD Garden back on February 11 (102-108). This was the last road defeat for the Nuggets prior to the loss to the Cavaliers.
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