Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver Nuggets 4/5/19 NBA Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Portland Trail Blazers head to Mile High on Friday night to take on the Denver Nuggets in a crucial matchup that could affect the playoff positioning in the Western Conference.

Finishing Strong

Despite losing Jusuf Nurkic to a season-ending injury and playing without C.J McCollum who is still out with a knee problem, the Blazers are finishing the season strong and have won four out of their five games to hold on to fourth spot in the Western Conference, two games up on the 5th seeded Utah Jazz.

Evan Turner has registered back to back triple doubles to become the first player since 1984 to do so. Turner is averaging 6.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game this season. Damian Lillard leads Portland with 26.0 points, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. C.J. McCollum is putting up 21.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game but is still out with a knee injury. Enes Kanter is also scoring 12.2 points and grabbing 8.1 rebounds per game for the Blazers.

Portland is ranked 6th in the NBA in team scoring at 114.6 points per game. The Blazers also rank 22nd in assists with an average 23.1 dimes per contest. They are also the 2nd best rebounding team in the league at 48.1 boards grabbed per contest. Portland ranks 13th in scoring defense at 110.2 opponent points per game allowed.

Elite In The West

After barely missing the playoffs in the previous two seasons, the Denver Nuggets have proved that they are an elite team in the West. With the 2018-19 regular season heading to its final week, The Nuggets are in 2nd place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference team standings. At 52-26, Denver is 1.5 games behind the #1 Golden State Warriors and 1.5 games ahead of the 3rd ranked Houston Rockets.

Denver has been led by its unicorn Nikola Jokic who is averaging an impressive statline of 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Jamal Murray is also having a great season with 18.1 points, 4.2 rebonds and 4.8 assists per game. Veteran Paul Millsap is scoring 12.6 points and grabbing 7.3 rebounds while Gary Harris and Will Barton are contributing 12.9 and 12.1 points per game, respectively.

The Nuggets have the 19th best scoring average in the NBA at 110.8 points per game scored. Denver is ranked 2nd in passing at 27.5 assists per game and they are also 6th in rebounding at 46.7 boards hauled per contest. Denver has the 6th best scoring defense in the league at 106.6 opponent points per game allowed.

Who Wins?

The Blazers are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played. Portland is 3-2 SU in their last five road games. The Nuggets are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played. Denver is 2-1 SU in their last three home games. Head to head, the Nuggets are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games against the Blazers.

Both these teams are playing well as of late and both these teams need to win this game due to playoff positioning. The Nuggets are trying to hold on to third place but are also looking at the possibility of catching the Warriors at the top spot. Meanwhile, the Blazers are trying to catch the Rockets at #3 and fend off the 5th seeded Jazz.

The Blazers will once again be playing without two starters in Jusuf Nurkic and C.J. McCollum. Denver has been saddled with injuries all-season long but they have become healthy as of late. Lillard continues to lead the Blazers attack. If Evan Turner and the rest of the role players can step up, this should be a good game.

If not though, then Denver is going to be a handful with a complete cast led by Nurkic, Murray, Millsap, Harris and Barton. Coach Mike Malone has said he won’t rest his players until they get the job done in the regular season. The Blazers are 20-19 away but Denber is an impeccable 32-7 SU at home this season. I’m picking the Denver Nuggets to beat the Portland Trail Blazers on 4/5/19.

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Other Bets To Make

Portland is 5-4-1 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Blazers are 3-2 ATS in their last five games on the road. Denver is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played and the Nuggets are 1-2 ATS in their last three games played at home. Head to head, the Nuggets are 5-4-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Blazers.

The Blazers are 5-0 ATS in their last five Friday games, 11-3 ATS in their last 14 road games, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road games against an opponent with a winning home record and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. The Nuggets are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games after a straight up win, 1-4 ATS in their last five games after an SU win of more than 10 points, 1-4 ATS in their last five home games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall. I like the Nuggets to win this game outright but I expect it to be a closer game given what’s at stake. I’ll take the underdogs and the plus points here. Prediction: Blazers +6

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The under is 5-4-1 in Portland’s last 10 games played. The total has gone under in three out of the last five road games played by the Blazers. The under is 8-2 in Denver’s last 10 games played and the total has gone under in each of their last three games played at home. Head to head, the over is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings between the Blazers and Nuggets.

The Blazers have the 6th highest scoring offense in the league at 114.6 points per game but the Nuggets are 13th in scoring defense. Denver has allowed just 103.5 points per game in their last 10 games played while scoring just 102.6 points per game during that stretch. 216 is a low score for the Western Conference but with the way the Nuggets have been playing as of late, these teams are going to have problems breaching that total. Prediction: Under 216

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