Denver Nuggets (48-34) vs. Golden State Warriors (53-29)
April 16, 2022 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Golden State Warriors -6.5; Over/Under: -225.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors duke it out in Game 1 at the Chase Center on Saturday night.
The Denver Nuggets have been plagued by injuries all season, but they leaned heavily on the services of Nikola Jokic who carried the team to a 48-34 overall record which earned them the 6th seed in the Western Conference. Jokic led the way with averages of 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, Aaron Gordon averaged 15.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, Will Barton scored 14.7 points and 3.9 assists per game while Monte Morris averaged 12.6 points and 4.4 assists per game. As a team, the Nuggets scored 112.7 points while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors are coming into this series with plenty of confidence after reeling off five straight wins to cap off the regular season and finish with a 53-29 record. Stephen Curry is currently trending to play in the series opener which is a massive boost as he averaged 25.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, Klay Thompson averaged 20.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the 32 games he played, Jordan Poole averaged 18.5 points while Andrew Wiggins scored 17.2 points per game. As a team, the Warriors scored 111.0 points per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from the 3-point line.
Looking at the betting trends, the Nuggets are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 road games, 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 5-1 ATS in their last six games as an underdog. The Warriors are 6-2 ATS in their last eight home games, 6-2 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a winning record and 5-1 ATS in their last six games overall.
Head to head, the under is 6-2 in the last eight meetings overall, the Nuggets are 3-9 ATS in the last 12 meetings overall and the Nuggets are 2-5-1 ATS in the last eight meetings in Golden State.
The Warriors have opened as favorites at home which is understandable given that Curry is expected to be available for this one, but the Nuggets will be quietly confident about this matchup as they’ve already beaten the Warriors in three out of four meetings during the regular season. I think the Warriors draw first blood in this series, but the line seems a little too high for the Nuggets who are a solid 10-3 ATS in their last 13 road games. This should be a close one, so I’ll stick with the Nuggets and the points in this one.
