NBA: Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trail Blazers Preview, Odds, Prediction

Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers have some head-to-head history over the past several years. A few seasons ago, the two teams we battling over the eighth seed in the West, and the Trail Blazers came out as winners. In the 2019 playoffs, the Nuggets had a chance to close the West semis series against Dame and the boys, but missed the same, allowing the team from Moda Center to meet the Warriors in the conference finals. Every time these two teams play, the intensity on the court is high, and there is no reason to be different this Wednesday night.

Preview

Denver Nuggets (37-20, -208) come to Oregon after three wins in a row, having 11 over the past 13 games. They are looking very good, and it seems that Michael Malone targeted the form precisely for this part of the year. His crew is fourth in the West, two and a half games ahead of the Lakers and one and a half behind the Clippers. This means that the Nuggets have nice chances of setting up a clash between LA teams already in the first round. All they need to do is to jump over the LAC.

The No.1 MVP candidate, Nikola Jokic, was doing wonders in an OT win against the Memphis Grizzlies, 139-137. The Joker scored 47 points, had 15 boards and 8 assists, but as usual, his performance didn’t have the hype as in some other cases.

What is good news for the Nuggets fans is that Will Barton showed signs of life, scoring 28 points with five threes sunk. He also added seven assists and six rebounds. Michael Porter Jr dropped 21 with seven rebs, while also scoring five downtown shots.

Portland Trail Blazers (32-25, +170) are on the verge of slipping down into the play-in zone, as they have just a 1.5-game edge over the Mavericks. The good thing for Terry Stotts’ unit is that Dallas is also playing poorly in the recent few weeks. Portland posted just three wins in the past 10 matches, which is terrible at this point of the campaign.

Currently, they are on a two-game losing skid, four in the past five. The LA Clippers narrowly defeated them this Tuesday night, 113-112, as Paul George hit both free throws with 4.8 seconds to go.

CJ McCollum led the hosts with 28 points, Norman Powell had 23, while Carmelo Anthony dropped 18. The encouraging news is that Damian Lillard ends his three-game absence against the Nuggets, which is a massive boost for the Trail Blazers.

Head to Head Games

The first meeting in Colorado saw the Nuggets posting a tough 111-106 victory. Jokic has 41 points, while now-injured, Jamal Murray scored 24. Lillard had a team-high for Portland, 25 points, and Carmelo Anthony scored one point fewer off the bench.

Prediction

This one should end in Denver’s favor. The Nuggets are in a better situation, winning 11 times over the last 13 matches, while on the other side, Portland struggles, with and without Lillard in the lineup. Jusuf Nurkic is out for the home team, meaning that apart from Enes Kanter there is no one to battle with Jokic, and having in mind how the Serb plays, the Trail Blazers can expect to concede at least 30 points just from him.

Pick: Denver Wins