Suns vs Nuggets Pick – NBA Predictions & Odds 5/11/23

The Denver Nuggets travel to the Footprint Center to do battle with the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 on Thursday night.

The Denver Nuggets will be eager to finish the job and move onto the Conference Finals after making light work of the Suns in a crucial 118-102 win in Game 5 on Tuesday. Nikola Jokic led the way with a triple-double of 29 points with 13 rebounds and 12 assists, Michael Porter Jr and Jamal Murray scored 19 points each while Bruce Brown provided the spark off the bench with 25 points on seven of 11 shooting. As a team, the Nuggets shot 49 percent from the field and 13 of 27 from the 3-point line as they hit the ground running and poured in 35 points in the first quarter to take the early lead, before they exploded for 39 points in the third quarter to push the lead out to 24 points at one stage.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns will be playing to keep their season alive after getting routed by the Nuggets in Game 5 on Tuesday. Devin Booker led the team in scoring with 28 points, six rebounds and four assists, Kevin Durant added 26 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists while Deandre Ayton chipped in with 14 points, but no other player finished in double figures in scoring. As a team, the Suns shot 43 percent from the field and nine of 27 from the 3-point line as they worked hard to claw their way back from an early deficit, only to get blown out in the third quarter where they allowed 39 points. No bench player scored more than nine points and Cameron Payne finished with just seven points in 31 minutes of action.

Looking at the betting trends, the Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games, 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games against a team with a winning record and 5-2 ATS in their last seven games following a win. The Suns are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games against a team above .600 and 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a loss of more than 10 points.

Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Phoenix and the Nuggets are 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings overall. 

The Nuggets are coming into this one with the same lineup, while the Suns are still missing Chris Paul and they are keeping an eye on Deandre Ayton who is questionable. The Nuggets had a scare in game 5, but they were able to recover and finish with a flurry to reclaim the series lead thanks to another monster triple-double from Jokic. The Suns suffered a slow start and they just didn’t get anything from their role players, but I think that changes back at the Footprint Center. This should be a close one, but I think the Suns do enough to pull out the win and force a series decider.