Blazers vs Nuggets Game 2 | NBA Betting Analysis

Home-court advantage is already gone for the Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference playoff series vs. Portland after the Blazers won Game 1 in the Mile High City. However, the Nuggets are short home favourites for Game 2 on Monday.

How to Bet Blazers at Nuggets NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 10 PM ET
Where: Ball Arena
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio:com

Why Bet on Portland? | NBA Betting Analysis

The Blazers took Game 1 123-109 on Saturday. With the Nuggets playing without Jamal Murray, Will Barton and P.J. Dozier, the Trail Blazers’ game plan of making someone other than MVP finalist Nikola Jokic beat them became fairly evident early on in Game 1.

Portland star Damian Lillard sparked a 12-2 run that tied the game at 73-73 with just under seven minutes to play and would can a 28-footer to close out the quarter on an 8-0 run and take a 96-86 lead into the fourth.

Lillard played 40 minutes and finished with 34 points and 13 assists. Lillard was pestered by Facundo Campazzo for much of Saturday’s series opener, but he and the Blazers made a key adjustment during the third quarter. Portland made sure to run Campazzo through more ball screens than they did in the first half, and the result was either a switch or extra space that Lillard could exploit. Backcourt mate C.J. McCollum added 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block and three 3-pointers in 36 minutes.

Jusuf Nurkic put up 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists and a steal in nearly 33 minutes. Carmelo Anthony finished with 18 points.

The win not only flipped home court advantage into the Trail Blazers’ favor, it also gave Anthony his first victory versus the Nuggets, the team that selected him with the third overall pick of the 2003 Draft, in Denver since the three-team trade that sent the future Hall of Famer to the New York Knicks back in 2011.

“I didn’t even know that this was first win since I was gone, since I got traded,” said Anthony. “Not even something that I ever even though about to be honest with y’all. Somebody told me that when I was in the locker room after the game. But I’ll take it. I’ll take my first win being Game 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs.”

Anfernee Simons went 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from three for 14 points and Norman Powell added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.

Portland and Denver have faced each other three times previously in the postseason, with the Trail Blazers holding a 2-1 series edge. Portland has twice defeated the Nuggets in a seven-game series that starts with Denver holding home-court advantage. The first came when the Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets 4-2 in the 1977 NBA Western Conference Semifinals. Portland won the NBA Championship that year. The Trail Blazers again defeated the Nuggets in the 2019 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, this time by a 4-3 margin following a series-clinching Game 7 win in Denver.

Why Bet on Denver? | NBA Betting Analysis

The Nuggets may simply be too short-handed without the injured Jamal Murray, Will Barton and P.J. Dozier to win this series. Murray is done for the season and both Barton and Dozier will miss Game 2 after also sitting in Game 1.

Denver did lead by as many as nine in the third quarter in Game 1 on Saturday but things would unravel from that point on as Portland responded with a 13-4 run to even the score at 73. Denver would never regain the lead from that point. The Blazers won 123-109. Portland shot 19-of-40 from downtown and while Denver hit 11-of-36.

“The No. 1 concern was going to be ‘can we guard the three-point line?’ You look at the three regular-season matchups, in our two wins, I think they averaged 13 made threes, in their one win, they made 18. Obviously, tonight, it went up to 19,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.

Expected regular-season MVP Nikola Jokic accounted for 34 points, 16 rebounds, one assist and three 3-pointers in 35 minutes. It was the first game this season in which Jokic finished with one assist, the fewest that he’s had in a game since January 2, 2020 vs. the Pacers (zero assists). Michael Porter Jr. (25/9/0/0/2 with one 3-pointer) joined Jokic as Nuggets with at least 20 points, but he did so while shooting 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. Aaron Gordon had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Denver will need to be better on defense. The Nuggets have shown that when they allow 100 or fewer points, good things happen. The Nuggets are 14-1 this year when allowing under 100 points and have gone 62-4 in their last 66 games, also winning 20 of their last 21 giving up less than 100 points.

Game Trends

Trail Blazers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Trail Blazers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
Trail Blazers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a road underdog.
Trail Blazers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win of more than 10 points.
Nuggets are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Nuggets are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 playoff games as a favorite.
Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss.
Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.