Denver Nuggets vs Boston Celtics Prediction: Combined starting 5 featuring Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum

Forward - Michael Porter Jr. (Denver Nuggets)

Michael Porter Jr. and JaMychal Green of the Denver Nuggets.

Michael Porter Jr. has continued his progression and is already the third-best scorer on the Denver Nuggets' roster.

Though he has had tough shooting nights in the last two games (2/13 from the 3P line), Porter remains an important piece of Denver's offense and has regained his place in Michael Malone's starting lineup.

He is averaging 15 points, and six rebounds per game with solid shooting splits of 49/40/79.

Forward - Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)

Jayson Tatum is definitely turning into an NBA superstar, and the Boston Celtics' forward seems to get better year after year. Tatum is posting tremendous numbers for the Boston Celtics during the 2020-21 NBA season and is the franchise's hope for the future, alongside Jaylen Brown.

Though his 2020-21 NBA campaign has been solid, Tatum is coming off his worst game of the season with six points against the Wizards. The last time he did not reach 10 points in a regular-season game was on July 31st, 2020, against the Milwaukee Bucks, when Tatum scored just five points.

Bradley Beal on Jayson Tatum’s off shooting performance: "I really don’t know. It was just one of those nights for him. We all have them. I had one last week…He’s a star. He let us off the hook, for sure.”Tatum had only 6 points on 3-for-14 shooting against the Wizards today.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 14, 2021

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Overall. Tatum is averaging 25.6 points, 7 rebounds, and 4.5 rebounds per game (all career highs). Moreover, his shooting splits are 45/41/87.

Center - Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets puts up a shot over Marc Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers in the first quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Nikola Jokic is one of the top candidates for the 2020-21 NBA MVP award, as he is putting up tremendous numbers and has been the Denver Nuggets' engine on offense.

Jokic is having a historic season for a center. The Serbian is averaging 8.7 assists per game, which would rank first in NBA history among centers in a single season. He is putting up 26.5 points and 11 rebounds per game and has six Triple-Doubles so far.

Jokic is posting career highs in points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, and free-throw percentage in the current season. He is also having a solid shooting split with 56/38/86.