Denver Nuggets vs. Portland Trail Blazers NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 12/18/20
Portland Trail Blazers at Denver Nuggets 12/18/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-18 21:00:00 EDT
The Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets meet Friday in NBA preseason action at the Ball Arena.
The Portland Trail Blazers look for a preseason record to end things with a 2-2 record. The Portland Trail Blazers are averaging 109.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting and allowing 116.3 points on 43.9 percent shooting. CJ McCollum is averaging 14.7 points and three assists while Carmelo Anthony is averaging 14 points and 2.7 rebounds. Gary Trent Jr. is the third double-digit scorer and Harry Giles III is grabbing 10.3 rebounds. The Portland Trail Blazers are shooting 38.8 percent from beyond the arc and 76.9 percent from the free thitem line. The Portland Trail Blazers are allowing 33.8 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 43.3 rebounds per game.
The Denver Nuggets look for a preseason win to end things with a 2-1 record. The Denver Nuggets are averaging 105 points on 43 percent shooting and allowing 101 points on 40.4 percent shooting. Nikola Jokic is averaging 19 points and 10.5 rebounds while Paul Millsap is averaging 13 points and 1.5 assists. PJ Dozier is the third double-digit scorer and Jamal Murray is grabbing 6.5 rebounds. The Denver Nuggets are shooting 28 percent from beyond the arc and 72 percent from the free thitem line. The Denver Nuggets are allowing 27 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 48 rebounds per game.
The Trail Blazers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games playing on 1 days rest. The Nuggets are 4-1-2 ATS in their last 7 home games and 10-4-2 ATS in their last 16 games overall. The Trail Blazers are 5-12-1 ATS in the last 18 meetings. The over is 11-4 in the last 15 meetings.
The Portland Trail Blazers are worth consideration in the underdog role, but they did just lose to the Nuggets by 31 points while shooting just 37.8 percent from the field. And after Lillard played 30 minutes, he may not see the court much in the preseason finale. The Denver Nuggets are a deep club, so it doesn’t matter how much the starters play. After what we saw in the first meeting, give me the Nuggets and the chalk.
