Tuesday’s Tip Sheet

Nuggets at 76ers (-4, 205 ½) – 8:05 PM EST – TNT

Three teams have yet to lose a home game in the NBA this season. The Celtics improved to 10-0 at TD Garden with a blowout of the Cavaliers on Monday. The Heat put their 10-0 home mark on the line against the Hawks, but the team owning the best home ledger in the NBA resides in Philadelphia. The 76ers (17-7 SU, 11-12-1 ATS) have yet to lose in 12 contests at Wells Fargo Center, while sitting one-half game behind the Celtics for the top spot in the Atlantic division.

The Sixers held off a furious Raptors’ rally in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 110-104 victory to avenge a five-point road loss in late November at Toronto. Tobias Harris paced Philadelphia with 26 points, while Matisse Thybulle scored a season-high 20 points off the bench to improve to 6-1 in the last seven games. The 76ers have cashed in five of their past seven contests at Wells Fargo Center following an 0-3 ATS run at home in mid-November.

The Nuggets (14-7 SU, 9-11-1 ATS) finish off a rough four-game road trip that began with promise, but has fallen flat of late. Denver roughed up New York at Madison Square Garden last Thursday, 129-92 as 8 ½-point favorites, but the Nuggets are coming off consecutive losses at Boston and Brooklyn. Following a 13-point defeat to the Celtics on Friday, the Nuggets dropped a 105-102 decision to the Nets on Sunday afternoon as 4 ½-point favorites.

Denver and Brooklyn went back and forth as the Nuggets took a 102-101 lead with 30 seconds remaining before the Nets scored the final four points of regulation. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 24 points and 11 rebounds to post his second straight double-double following a rough five-game stretch in which he averaged 8.4 points per game. Denver has failed to cover in four of its past five contests, while the Nuggets are currently on a 7-2 run to the UNDER.

In the previous matchup at Pepsi Center on November 8, the 76ers built a seemingly insurmountable 86-65 advantage one minute into the fourth quarter. However, the Nuggets put together an incredible rally by outscoring the Sixers, 35-11 the rest of the way, capped off by Jokic’s jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining for the 100-97 stunner. The 76ers managed the cover as five-point underdogs, while the Nuggets beat Philadelphia for the second time in the past six matchups.

Wizards (-1 ½, 231) at Hornets – 7:05 PM EST

Both these Southeast squads are coming off consecutive losses as they try to snap their mini skids in Charlotte. The Wizards (7-15 SU, 12-9-1 ATS) are in a rare road favorite role as they have not closed as away chalk this season. Washington has lost five of its past six games away from D.C., while coming off a 135-119 home defeat to the Clippers on Sunday night as a 9 ½-point underdog. Thankfully, the Wizards are done with the Clippers after allowing a total of 285 points in two defeats to Los Angeles since the start of December.

The Hornets (8-17 SU, 12-13 ATS) are suffering through a rough homestand even though Charlotte has faced only one team with a winning record (Brooklyn). Charlotte melted down late in a five-point home loss to Phoenix, beat Golden State by 15 points, but dropped a seven-point decision to the Nets before falling to a Hawks’ team that had lost 11 of their previous 12 games. In Sunday’s 122-107 setback to Atlanta, the Hornets allowed 71 second half points, while leading scorer Devonte’ Graham was limited to 4-of-17 shooting from the floor and posted only 12 points.

Charlotte has put together a 5-5 ATS mark in the home underdog role this season, including four wins by three points or less. The last time the Hornets and Wizards hooked up on November 22 in D.C., Charlotte led, 107-94 as six-point underdogs with 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. But, Washington erased that 13-point deficit by outscoring Charlotte, 31-11 the rest of the way to pick up the improbable cover in a 125-118 triumph. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Hornets have won all four meetings with the Wizards, as three of those games have finished OVER the total.

Knicks at Blazers (-9, 218 ½) – 10:05 PM EST

Since beating the Cavaliers on November 18, New York (4-19 SU, 11-12 ATS) has dropped nine consecutive games and fired its head coach David Fizdale. The Knicks haven’t been terrible against the number this season, as they are coming off a home cover as 4 ½-point underdogs in a 104-103 setback to the Pacers on Saturday. This game was on pace for an OVER of 209 as Indiana led at halftime, 66-60, while the Pacers were up, 104-100 with 5:05 remaining. The two teams needed six points for the OVER and combined for three points the rest of the way for an inexplicable UNDER.

Now the Knicks venture out west to begin a four-game road swing that continues to Golden State on Wednesday, Sacramento on Friday, and Denver on Sunday. New York will face old friend Carmelo Anthony, who is averaging 15.9 points per game in 10 games since signing with Portland (9-15 SU, 10-13-1 ATS) last month. The Blazers finish off a four-game homestand after losing to the Lakers and Thunder the past two contests. Portland began the season with a 1-4 home mark prior to three consecutive wins over Oklahoma City, Chicago, and Sacramento, but have gone backwards with the last two losses.

The Blazers have captured the past five matchups with the Knicks since 2017, including three straight home wins by double-digits. However, New York covered in both meetings last season, as the Knicks barely cashed as 11-point underdogs in a 111-101 setback at Portland last January. The previous two road losses for the Knicks have come in blowout fashion as New York dropped a 28-point decision at Toronto and an ugly 44-point rout at the hands of Milwaukee last Monday.

You can reach Kevin Rogers via e-mail at rogers@vegasinsider.com

Kevin Rogers can be followed on Twitter at virogers.