Nuggets-Trail Blazers NBA Odds, Spread, Over/Under and Props

Spread, over/under and props bets for Thursday’s Nuggets-Trail Blazers game in Portland. The Trail Blazers are small home favorites.

The first meeting of the season between the Trail Blazers and Nuggets in Portland went to the home team by a landslide. Now, the two Western Conference foes meet again Thursday night at the Moda Center with the Blazers favored to win their second game in a row over Denver.

The Nuggets enter as the higher seed but just one game separates them in fourth place from the eighth-place Blazers. Denver has been on a skid as of late, dropping three games in a row, while Portland has won its last two.

Damian Lillard returned from injury for his team’s most recent game Sunday and the Blazers enjoyed three full days of rest since then.

Denver Nuggets vs. Portland Trail Blazers Odds

Time: 10 p.m. ET (NBA TV)
Spread: Nuggets +1.5 (-110) | Trail Blazers -1.5 (-110)
Moneyline: Nuggets (+100) | Trail Blazers (-118)
Total: 227.5 — Over (-110) | Under (-110)

Nuggets Betting Profile

Straight-Up Record: 14–10
Against The Spread Record: 11–13
Over/Under Record: 12–12
Points Per Game (Rank): 114.8 (11)
Points Allowed Per Game (Rank): 113.7 (17)

Trail Blazers Betting Profile

Straight-Up Record: 13–11
Against The Spread Record: 15–9
Over/Under Record: 9–13–2
Points Per Game (Rank): 110.3 (23)
Points Allowed Per Game (Rank): 111 (11)

Spread Bet: Trail Blazers -1.5 (-110)

Portland has gotten huge offensive contributions out of players not named Lillard in the last few weeks: Forty-four points from Jerami Grant in a win and another 45 out of Anfernee Simons in a victory. Now, the Blazers, with their best offensive weapon back, have a shot to win their third game in a row and move further up the standings against a team that’s currently ahead of them.

Denver won the first meeting this season, 135-110, in October. Back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokić got into foul trouble and finished with just nine points, his second-worst game of the year. Portland will have to expect more from Jokic, who will give his former teammate Jusuf Nurkić all he can handle, but the Nuggets will be down Michael Porter Jr., who scored 18 in the first meeting.

Portland hasn’t been especially stout defending its home court and it actually has a better mark this season on the road, but it has been one of the best teams in basketball against the spread. With its starting five healthy—Josh Hart is probable—against a Denver team that dropped its last two on the road, a close cover for the Blazers at home is well within reach.

Over/Under Bet: Over 227.5 (-110)

The Trail Blazers and Nuggets combined for 245 points in the first matchup. Both of their track records outside of that game are not as high-scoring, though. Portland has upgraded its defense this season and Denver ranks outside the top 10 in scoring. What these teams are known for, though, is their excellent three-point shooting. Both rank inside the top five in three-point percentage and an outside barrage is a perfect recipe for the over.

Three of the Nuggets’ last five games hit the over, but only two of the past five Trail Blazers’ games have done so. The total in the first meeting was also 227.5 and that was cleared easily. Even with Porter out, there’s enough juice on offense on either side to send this one over.

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Prop Bet: Anfernee Simons Over 22.5 Points (-110)

Simons has been on an offensive tear both with and without Lillard in the lineup. He scored 22 last game with Lillard back and 45 in the previous game prior. A few games before that he went for 37 and go back a few more games and he scored 38. In the first game against the Nuggets he scored 29 on seven made threes and he’s been lighting it up from deep lately as well. This isn’t a tough bar for him to clear against a team that doesn’t defend the three-point line especially well.