The Denver Nuggets pay a visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Paycom Center on Thursday night.
Denver Nuggets Betting Preview
The Denver Nuggets capped off their regular season with an impressive 12-game win streak to secure the third seed in the West, but they couldn’t carry that momentum in the playoffs where they got knocked out in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nikola Jokic still put up crazy numbers but suffered his first long-term injury. Aaron Gordon played just 36 games, Cam Johnson featured in 54 games while Christian Braun played 44 games. In desperate need of a third scoring option, the Nuggets traded away Peyton Watson and acquired veteran DeMar DeRozan.
Oklahoma City Thunder Betting Preview
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder have already begun their campaign with a gritty 116-104 road win over the Spurs on opening night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 32 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks, Jared McCain was on fire off the bench as he drained six 3-pointers to finish with 20 points on seven of nine shooting while Chet Holmgren tallied 14 points with seven rebounds and four blocks. As a team, the Thunder shot 45 percent from the field and 14 of 31 from the 3-point line as they caught fire early and poured in 65 points in the first half to build a 26-point lead, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing as they saw their lead get cut to just seven points late in the fourth quarter.
Denver v Oklahoma City Free Prediction
The Nuggets are still missing Julian Strawther and Spencer Jones is currently listed as questionable, while the Thunder are still missing role players Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic. The Thunder were impressive in their first game of the season, but it wasn’t as dominant as the final score suggests, so it’s still a little tough to lay this many points so early in the season against a quality opponent. The Nuggets were 4-0 ATS last season as an underdog of 8.5 points or greater and I just get the feeling we are in for a close contest here. The Thunder should still get the job done at home, but I like the Nuggets to hang around long enough to get the cover.