NBA: Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Denver Nuggets don’t have too much time to rest as they travel to San Antonio to meet the Spurs. Nikola Jokic and the boys played last night in New Orleans, where they defeated the Pelicans after overtime. The Spurs had one more day to rest and didn’t travel, and we’ll see if that can help them. Gregg Popovich’s unit plays pretty bad, as we expected to see them in the playoff mix. There is enough time to turn the table, but that can happen only if they make some radical changes.

Preview

Denver Nuggets (12-12, -120) have been going back and forth in the past few weeks, which is why they sit at the .500-mark right now. The Nuggets can’t find the consistency, and to be honest, we can’t put all the blame on them, due to an unreal volume of injuries they face.

Currently, Jokic is their only healthy star, and even the MVP had some issues with his wrist recently that forced him to miss some matches. Though, he is fine now, smashing his guards as usual. He had 39 points with 11 assists and boards each, scoring the first 11 points of the Nuggets in the OT.

Will Barton helped with 20 buckets, while Monte Morris added 11, Aaron Gordon and JaMychal Green had 10 each. The Nuggets got outrebounded by the Pelicans, 33-46, and they had only nine three-pointers in this event, which is too low for one NBA team.

San Antonio Spurs (8-15, +100) are coming into this matchup after back-to-back losses, one on the road in Phoenix and the second at home to the New York Knicks, 121-109. Pop’s unit is further and further sinking in the standings as time goes by.

The Spurs allowed 18 three-pointers and didn’t control the glass, with the Knicks getting 52 boards, nine more than their rivals. By the way, 17 of those boards were on the offensive side, presenting a big difference in the key moments of the event. San Antonio started showing signs of struggle in the second quarter, and definitely lost the game in the third period.

Derrick White had 26 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, Dejuonte Muray scored 15 points with seven assists and dimes each, while Jakob Poeltl had 13 points with eight boards and five assists.

Head to Head Games

The Nuggets hosted San Antonio early into the season and won that game 102-96. Jokic was way too dominant for the Spurs, scoring 32 points and also grabbing 16 rebounds, with seven assists. Keldon Johnson had 27 for the Spurs on the other side, shooting 12-for-18 from the field.

Prediction

The Spurs are a mediocre team, the one under the average in the league. On the other side, the Nuggets might be injured and all that, but they still have the NBA MVP in his prime, and we expect the Joker to create a difference in these types of games. That is why we predict Denver’s victory in Texas, despite them playing less than 24 hours earlier. If they want to reach the postseason (and they have to do that), triumphs in these events are imperative.

Pick: Denver wins

Here is the preview for the game between the LA Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies.