Portland at Denver
Time: 7 PM CT, NBA LP
Spread: DEN -5
Total: 216.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Portland Trail Blazers are 26-17 on the season but just 8-10 on the road where it travels to take on the Western Conference’s best home team, the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have posted a 17-3 mark at the Pepsi Center where it is 5-point favorites tonight on NBA League pass at 7 PM CT. The over/under is set at 216.5 points according to NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
DEN
At the midway point of the 2018-19 season, the Denver Nuggets have won a Western Conference-best 28 games. With just 13 losses, the team sits atop the division and conference and though it lost its last outing to the lowly Phoenix Suns 93-102, the Nuggets have been rolling.
Key behind its unorthodox attack is the play of “point-center” Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets run its offense through its talented 5-man, and Jokic leads all centers in assists per game at 7.5 per game. Adding that to his 19.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game produce a team-best PER of 26.1 as Jokic is quietly one of the league’s best big men. His strong passing abilities enable the Nuggets to play Jamal Murray at the point guard position where he ranks No. 2 on the team in scoring at 18.3 points per game. The Nuggets have been without Will Barton the majority of the season, too, which is no small loss as he is the team’s No. 3 offensive option.
Oddly, Paul Millsap’s role has declined heavily this season and the former All-Star is averaging under 13 points per game. The Nuggets have a deep rotation of talented scorers and average 110.3 points per game with six players averaging double-figures. Among those are Monte Morris at 10.0 points per game and Malik Beasley nearly at 9.8 per game. Both are talented guards that are finally receiving their chances in the Denver Nuggets backcourt following the jettisoning of one-time Nugget Emmanuel Mudiay.
Denver also is able to go into its second unit and produce a similar style play given the talents of backup center Mason Plumlee. He functioned as a point-center of sorts while in Portland and he averages 2.4 assists per game in under 20 minutes of play. The Nuggets have a legitimate 9 or 10-man rotation and with Jokic it truly possesses a franchise player capable of making game-changing plays and having phenomenal nightly performances. Not many are still sleeping on what the Nuggets might be capable of in the 2019 postseason.
POR
Portland has been rolling this season, and it has won its last four games and seven of its last 10 overall.
Lillard, for his part, has been sensational this season. The All-Star is averaging 26 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. His backcourt sidekick CJ McCollum is rounding into form too, averaging 21.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
The Blazers use its starting center Josuf Nurkic just 27 minutes a game, but he averages 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in that time, making the most of it with his high energy play.
The reduction in his time means more for Zach Collins, and the second-year big man has also looked good. Portland has gone more heavily towards its starters as the season has worn on, but it has some good talent waiting in the wings.
Collins is averaging 7.3 points and 0.86 blocks per game in 19 minutes a night. The Blazers have good depth, and its bench is greatly improved with the better play of Evan Turner and Nik Stauskas, who has revived his career in Portland. Stauskas is averaging 6.4 points per game in his 16 minutes a night. The Blazers now seem to have the depth it has lacked in previous seasons, and it is making a great difference evidenced by its No. 2 position in the Western Conference thus far.
