Denver Nuggets at Portland Trail Blazers
Thursday, 11/18/10, 10:30 PM EDT, TV: TNT
Opening Point Spread: Portland -3
Current Betting Line: Portland -2.5
Opening Total: 203
Current Total: 203
Current Moneyline: Portland -140 / Denver +120
Denver escaped with a 120-118 home win over the visiting New York Knicks after blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead. The Nuggets are continuing to follow forward Carmelo Anthony’s lead, scoring 26 points and pulling down nine rebounds in the contest. “Melo has been great,” said head coach George Karl. “He’s been the most professional I’ve ever seen him, more serious than I’ve ever seen him and the guy’s playing at an All-Star level.” He has now scored 20-plus points in 18 of his last 19 games, including the 2009-10 regular season and playoffs. Denver is 5-3 overall against the Western Conference and an even 2-2 on the road in those contests. The team has enjoyed great success against tonight’s opponent since the 2002-03 season, winning nine of 16 meetings. Denver is 20-16 ATS versus division opponents and the NBA lines page has them as a road underdog tonight.
The Nuggets did manage to post a season-high 120 points versus New York and improved their record to 6-2 when scoring 100-plus points in a game. Center Nene continues to show progress in the paint, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting on Tuesday, as he’s averaged 16.3 points over his last three games to improve his seasonal average to 12.6. Denver will need to play a complete game to pull off the road victory due to the team posting a 14-22 record away from the Pepsi Center since December of 2009. The Nuggets have managed only 93.7 points in their last six visits to the Rose Garden.
Portland held on to a 100-99 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies last time out in a game that it controlled from the opening tip. “We all had to step up,” said guard Wesley Matthews. “I’m part of a team so I’m just fulfilling my duty as a teammate to step up like everyone else did tonight.” The reason he poured in a career-high 30 points on Tuesday night was due to the backcourt missing star Brandon Roy, who has been dealing with a sore left knee. The All-Star guard will miss tonight’s game as well, as the squad will look to overcome missing his 18.1 points per contest. Portland is 0-2 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record.
The Trail Blazers key figure up to this point is their perfect 7-0 mark when holding opponents under 100 points. Portland is allowing 87.4 points per game in wins and 111.0 points in losses, an average of 97.3 overall that ranks ninth in the NBA. That mark is a big off from the 94.8 points it allowed in 2009-10, which led all Western Conference teams. In four home games, the squad is averaging 102.3 points per game, compared to 97.1 points per contest in eight road games.
Bettors will find that the Nuggets are 0-4-1 ATS as a road underdog of 0.5 to 4.5 points, while the Blazers are 23-8-1 ATS in their last 32 games as a favorite of that kind.
The NBA handicappers at Maddux Sports are ready to roll on Thursday night!
