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

The Denver Nuggets will host the Portland Trail Blazers this Friday night at the Ball Arena in Colorado. Throughout the past several years, we’ve seen these two teams meeting in the playoffs on a couple of occasions and having pretty important games that had implications on the playoff standings in the West. Therefore, a rivalry was developed between the two units, so now, whenever these two teams clash, it’s more than just another “interesting” event.

Preview

Portland Trail Blazers (17-15, +165) lost back-to-back games, both in OKC, against the Thunder, and have three defeats in the previous four clashes. The thing with the Trail Blazers now is the fact that the game in Denver will be their sixth away event in a row.

On top of everything, the Blazers met with the Spurs, Mavs, Rockets and Thunder before tonight’s event against the Nuggets, and we can say that the schedule wasn’t kind toward Lillard and the guys.

The latest loss was against the Thunder, 101-98, while the one before that was also narrow, 123-121, with the Trail Blazers constantly being in the position to win. Jerami Grant had 17 buckets in the most recent event, while Lillard didn’t have his night, hitting just two of his 11 three-point attempts for 13 points. Anfernee Simons had one fewer.

Denver Nuggets (19-11, -195) has 10 wins at home and three losses, with the Ball Arena being one of the most ferocious strongholds in the league. Denver posted five victories in the recent six contests, with the majority of those games taking place at the Mile High.

We need to say that the rivals weren’t especially tough, with their victims being the Jazz, Wizards, and Hornets, with the exception of Memphis Grizzlies, who were the last victim, 105-91. Ja and the boys couldn’t find their offensive pace, while on the other side, Nikola Jokic controlled Denver’s with 13 assists.

The Joker had 13 points and boards along with that, looking loosened and focused on creating space for his teammates, who perfectly used that. Murray and MPJ weren’t in the lineup, and that’s why others had to take over their share when it came to scoring. Aaron Gordon had 24 points, Bruce Brown had 16.

Head to Head Games

There were two games this year between the Blazers and the Nuggets. The opening one was in Portland in October when the hosts trashed the rivals 135-110. The second was also at the Moda Center, some two weeks ago, but back then, the Nuggets were better, squeezing out a triumph, 121-120. Jokic was one assist short of a triple-double, 33 points, ten boards and nine dimes. Lillard scored nine threes, assisted 12 times and had 40 points for Portland.

Prediction

The Nuggets look solid, the same as the Blazers, whose minus factor in this situation is the long period on the road. Whatever you think, constant traveling, even with extensive pit stops, is very exhausting. That’s why we go with the Nuggets, who are very good at home, with or without Murray and MPJ. Also, the Blazers have several players with minor injuries. Chauncey Billups could easily rest some of the guys.

Pick: Nuggets -195