Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Game 2 NBA Odds & Picks: Sharps Fading Damian Lillard & Nikola Jokic (May 24)

NBA Odds: Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets

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The Trail Blazers have a ton of confidence heading into Game 2 of their Western Conference first round matchup with the Nuggets in Denver.

In Game 1, Damian Lillard showed basketball fans what "Dame Time" is all about, pouring in 34 points and collecting 13 assists in one of  his better playmaking performances of the year.

Probable 2021 NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was dominating in the loss, but only had one assist to go with his 34 points and 16 rebounds on the night. This shows what an effort Portland made to force Jokic to score, rather than doubling him and letting shooters and cutters roam freely.

Game 2 of this series will see both coaches show even more of their respective hands. There is no fail-proof strategy to guarding a player with ridiculously deep range like Lillard, but if Malone has anything outside of the box to slow him down, we could see it on Monday night.

The NBA playoffs are different from the regular season for many reasons, but one of the biggest — and most obvious — ones is the fact that your opponent has so much time to gameplan against you.

This means we could see lower-scoring Game 2s across the board, as coaches present new issues for stars. This will be especially tough for Denver, with Will Barton (12.7 points per game) and PJ Dozier (7.7 PPG) still out.

Our latest PRO Report shows that sharp bettors are certainly expecting a slightly more tame Game 2 in the Portland vs. Denver series, and are thusly backing the under on Monday night.

Let's take a look.

NBA Picks: Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets

Sharp Action

The total for Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets opened up at 227 before it was pushed down to 226.5 ahead of the action.

Since this morning, there have been three Action Labs Bet Signals triggered on the under. This is a sign of the sharp action that has been driving down the spread, expecting a slower-paced Game 2 between these Northwestern Division foes.

Big Money

At the time of this writing, the 34% of bettors backing the under have generated 91% of the money wagered on Monday's total.

PRO Report Pick: Under 226.5 (-108 at FanDuel)