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

The beef between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets isn’t as aggressive and violent as between other teams. But, their rivalry is one of the most intense in the league, and each time these two teams meet, we are bound to have a spectacle. The only problem for the fans is the fact that the Trail Blazers won’t have Damian Lillard, who is out due to abdominal pain.

Preview

Portland Trail Blazers (6-7, +160) are without Lillard for the first time this year. The sharpshooting guard, and one of the best players in the league, has trouble with abdominal tendinopathy, something he has been struggling with within the last couple of months. According to some sources, since playing for the US team in Tokyo Olympics.

The Blazers’ other guards and forwards need to step up now. CJ McCollum will get a much higher share of action, and the No.3 always likes to play against the Nuggets, meaning that he should drop way more than his average of 20.7 points.

This would be the fourth straight match for Portland on the road. The most recent one was in Houston, where they defeated the struggling Rockets with 104-92. Lillard dropped 20 points, McCollum had 17, while Nassir Little added 13 with 14 rebounds.

Denver Nuggets (8-4, -170) have been excellent in the recent several days, recording four straight victories, despite facing a lot of adversities. The team from Colorado lost Michael Porter Jr, had been playing without Jokic, and still managed to keep the positive streak going.

Though, we need to add that all those victories happened in Denver in front of the home crowd. It all started against the Rockets, then continued vs, Heat, Pacers, and the Hawks. They would beat the franchise from Georgia 105-96, having no particular trouble.

Jokic had a triple-double with 22 points, 19 boards, and 10 assists, but shooting threes, only 1-of-8. This time Will Barton wasn’t in the mood ending the night with only five points in 35 minutes, but Aaron Gordon was, dropping 23. Jeff Green had 16, and young rookie, Bones Hyland, once again proved that he might be a jackpot for the Nuggets this year coming off the bench and scoring 15 points with six boards and four assists.

Head to Head Games

These teams had so many interesting battles in the recent few years, both in the playoffs and during the regular season, and as said, each one was a spectacle.

Last year, Nuggets eliminated the Trail Blazers in the West conference first round, in six matches. Previously, the Nuggets had two wins and one loss during the regular part of the year.

Prediction

Without Lillard, the Trail Blazers are at least 50% weaker, and this spread of only 4 points is a gift for us. After all, the Nuggets are ruthless at home, and having the wounded Blazers coming their way is an excellent chance to settle some old scores and keep the positive mood going. In our opinion, the Nuggets will win and cover the spread without any problems, so we suggest using this convenience before the bookies react. And they will at some point.

Pick: Nuggets -4