Nuggets vs. Suns Game 6 Preview, Odds, Lines, Prediction, Picks (May 11)

Denver Nuggets are up 3-2 going into Game 6 of the West Conference semifinals against the Phoenix Suns. While doing all in his power to help his team succeed, Nikola Jokic—a two-time NBA MVP—doesn’t get the needed help from his two top sidekicks, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. On the other hand, the Suns are missing Chris Paul, which forces Kevin Durant and Devin Booker to carry the load alone, which seems to be challenging at the time.

Preview

Denver Nuggets (+145) are lucky to have Nikola Jokic, playing by far the best basketball in the playoffs. That’s a fact. The Serbian had another triple-double this postseason, leading his team to a big win.

The Joker made 12 of his 20 field goal attempts and finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. However, the X-factor for Mike Malone’s unit was Bruce Brown, who scored 25 points and was a big factor, coming off the bench and giving an additional boost to his teammates.

The other two stars Denver has, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Junior ended the night with 19 points apiece, which wasn’t that bad, but on the other side, wasn’t something astonishing.

The Phoenix Suns (-170) definitely have problems because of Chris Paul’s injury, and the other two superstars, Booker and Durant, had to improvise a lot to cover up CP’s absence. That works sometimes, but we also see the Suns struggling in certain situations. If it weren’t for the controversial refereeing in Game 3, this series would probably be over by now.

The Suns lost at Ball Arena in Game 5, 118-102. They were helpless most of the time, and in the end, that erupted when Kevin Durant received a tech for pushing Jokic.

The fact that just three players had 10 or more points —Durant, Booker, and Ayton—was the primary factor in the team’s defeat. There was no contribution of the bench, who had 25 points in total and wasn’t as sharp as in Game 4.

Latest News

Denver has no problems, and all the players are fit and healthy for Game 6. Jokic will play a financial fine for his incident with the Suns’ owner in Game 4, and he won’t be suspended.

Meanwhile, Chris Paul won’t play for the Suns, and there isn’t any information about his status for a potential Game 7 in Denver.

Head to head

Counting in the contests from the regular part of the season, the current record between these two units is 6-5 for the Nuggets, who lead in the West semis, 3-2. So far, we haven’t seen one team drop a game at home in the playoffs or the regular part of the season.

Prediction

We see it like this. The Nuggets were more than confident when playing at home, while on the other hand, the Suns did triumph at their Footprint Center, going toe-to-toe with the rivals and playing their best possible basketball. They can’t win three times in a row at home, and at some point, things will build up for the Nuggets to steal that one game in Arizona. This is the perfect moment.

Pick: Denver Nuggets +145