Nuggets vs. Celtics NBA injury report, odds, spread: Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap, PJ Dozier, Marcus Smart, Daniel Theis out; Monte Morris questionable Tuesday

The Denver Nuggets come off one of their biggest wins of the season Sunday in upsetting the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and have taken three straight overall, but the Nuggets are 2.5-point underdogs on the William Hill Sportsbook NBA odds at struggling Boston on Tuesday because Denver will for sure be down Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap and PJ Dozier and could be missing Monte Morris, too. Boston remains without guard Marcus Smart and will also be down big man Daniel Theis. Check out the SportsLine Projection Model's simulation of this game. 

All the Nuggets but Barton (personal reasons) are dealing with injuries. Millsap did play Sunday in the 122-105 win over the Lakers but left with a left knee sprain. Morris had 10 points in 30 minutes but is dealing with a right shoulder sprain. If all those guys sit Tuesday, that is a combined 50.1 points and 17.6 rebounds per game.

Needless to say, Denver's Big 3 of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. would really have to carry the load to upset Boston. The Nuggets are just 9-37 all-time in Beantown and have dropped 19 of the previous 23 there.

The Celtics are huge disappointments at 13-13, the first time they are .500 or worse this late in the season in six years. They were shocked Friday at home by Detroit and then Sunday in Washington. Kemba Walker said the team simply isn't playing hard enough in dropping 10 of 15.

Smart remains out with a left calf tear, while Theis suffered a right index finger sprain in Sunday's win and will reportedly not play even though he returned in that game. Theis averages 9.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in about 24 minutes per night.

Another thing to consider here is that it's the front end of a back-to-back for both, although Denver surely won't be resting anyone with the team so short-handed. Boston is 5-0 in the front end of a back-to-back this season, while Denver is 4-0. The Nuggets are just 1-4 against the spread in their past five as road underdogs overall. 

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, and it returned over $5,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks last season. The model is also up more than $8,400 on top-rated NBA picks over the past two-plus seasons. Dating back to last season, it enters Week 9 of the 2020-21 NBA schedule on a stunning 83-48 roll on top-rated NBA picks against the spread. Anybody who has followed it has seen HUGE returns.