Nuggets-Thunder Betting Preview: Is Denver Vulnerable on the Road?
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Denver Nuggets guard Malik Beasley (25), Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0).
Betting Odds: Denver Nuggets-Oklahoma City Thunder
- Spread: Thunder -3.5
- Over/Under: 218
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: Fox Sports Oklahoma
The Denver Nuggets took an ugly loss in Houston on Thursday and the road doesn’t get any easier for them on Friday. They face Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back in a potential playoff matchup.
Can Denver get back on its feet, or is OKC in prime position for a win? Our analysts discuss.
What’s at Stake
The Thunder can clinch a playoff spot with a win vs. Denver. That would be a much-needed highlight for Oklahoma City, which has been free-falling in the standings.
The Thunder have slipped over the past month from third in the West standings and four games out of first place to seventh in the West and just 0.5 games ahead of the Spurs and the No. 8 seed.
Betting Trends to Know
The Nuggets offense has been struggling mightily as of late, scoring fewer than 100 points in 3 straight games for the first time since January of 2018 (2nd time in over 3 years). In the three games, the Nuggets also shot less than 30% from three point range, going 18-80 (22.5%).
When the Nuggets have played on the road this season, the under is 23-12-1 (65.7%), going under the total by 2.9 PPG. In their last 17 road games, the under is 13-4 (76.5%) in Nuggets road games, going under the total by 5 PPG. — Evan Abrams
Denver is playing back-to-back games as an underdog against a Western conference playoff team, but it hasn’t had much success in that spot this season. The Nuggets are 10-11 ATS as underdogs and 5-7 ATS against Western conference playoff teams.
The good news? The Nuggets are 2-0 ATS vs. the Thunder as a dog and 3-0 straight up against them this season. — Malik Smith
Mears: How I’m Handicapping Tonight’s Game
Man are the Nuggets in a terrible slump right now.
Sure, a lot of it seems like just bad shooting — they posted an atrocious 42.1% eFG mark Thursday night against the Rockets in a blowout loss — but the underlying offensive metrics are quite concerning as well.