NBA: Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Brooklyn Nets and the Denver Nuggets are under pressure recently, and tonight’s match could decide a lot of things. The Nets have four losses in a row, which saw them slipping down from the first to the third spot in the Eastern Conference. They still have a chance to pass the Bucks at the second spot, but they would need to be perfect. Meanwhile, the Nuggets are battling for the third position in the West, and are one game behind the Clippers right now. They, too, have to be without the slightest mistake in order to jump over Kawhi and the boys.

Preview

Brooklyn Nets (43-24, -154) are favorites here even though they have four consecutive losses. It all started with a defeat at home against the Portland Trail Blazers. After that, the Nets lost twice in Milwaukee and eventually suffered a failure in Dallas against the Mavericks, 113-109.

Kyrie Irving had a burst at the American Airlines Center, dropping 45 points, 17-for-31, and scoring seven threes. In a very tough and competitive game, the Nets slowed down in finish, which is why Mavs managed to take down the guests from the East coast and post a valuable win for them.

Kevin Durant scored just 20 points, missing 14 of his 21 shots, all four threes as well. Other players weren’t up to the task – Jeff Green had 11 buckets, while Bruce Brown and Blake Griffin added 10 each. Without James Harden, Brooklyn looks much worse, to be honest.

Denver Nuggets (44-23, +150) lost in Utah last night, 127-120. Which was their second loss in the latest three events. The first was vs Lakers, in yet another controversial game between these two sides. In between, Jokic and Porter Jr. led their unit to an easy win over the solid Knicks, 113-97.

The game against the Nets will be the last one for Denver at home, as the remaining four all take place on the road. They need to beat Brooklyn to stay in the race for that third spot.

Jokic was one rebound short of reaching another triple-double, having 24 points, 13 dimes, and nine boards, while MPJ scored 31 points, with six rebounds. He was 10-for-19 from the field, with four threes. Paul Millsap had 19 buckets, but with just one board. Austin Rivers came off the bench to add 18 more points.

Head to Head Games

The first matchup between these two sides was midway through January, with the Nets winning 122-116. It was a close call, with the hosts securing the win in the last minutes of the battle. Durant scored 34 points, Caris LeVert had 20, while Bruce Brown added 16. For the Nets, Jokic had 23, Will Barton 22 and Murray 20.

Prediction

The line for the total number of points is 231, which is too high in our opinion. Brooklyn went under in five of their last six games, while Denver did that five times in the previous seven events. Also, we expect to see them a bit tougher on the defensive side of the ball, because this match could decide a lot. As said in the opening paragraph, the margin for error is very small, which will undoubtedly decrease efficiency.

Pick: Under