Trail Blazers vs Nuggets Prediction 2/20/26 NBA Picks Today

The Denver Nuggets pay a visit to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Friday night. Here’s a Trail Blazers vs Nuggets Prediction. This article will include a Trail Blazers vs Nuggets Pick.

The Denver Nuggets haven’t been playing at their best lately as they’ve dropped five of their last seven games overall and they will be hoping for a better result after coming up painfully short to the Clippers in a 115-114 road defeat last night. Nikola Jokic led the team with 22 points, 17 rebounds and six assists, Jamal Murray added 20 points with eight rebounds and eight assists while Bruce Brown chipped in with 19 points and six assists off the bench. As a team, the Nuggets shot 45 percent from the field and 13 of 40 from the 3-point line as they played great defense to limit the Clippers in the first half to take a narrow lead into halftime, but they allowed 70 points in the second half and were always playing from behind after allowing the Clippers to take the lead with just 3:12 left in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers are starting to heat up again as they’ve won four of their last five games overall and they will be looking to keep it going after making light work of the Jazz in a 135-119 road win last Thursday. Jrue Holiday led the way with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on 10 of 15 shooting, Donovan Clingan added 23 points with 18 rebounds and seven assists while Jerami Grant chipped in with 18 points. As a team, the Trail Blazers shot 51 percent from the field and 18 of 46 from the 3-point line as they struggled to contain the Jazz early on and trailed going into halftime, before they caught fire with 40 points in the third quarter to turn a six-point deficit into a 19-point lead.

The Nuggets are still missing Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson who are both out, while the Trail Blazers have ruled out Shaedon Sharpe and Damian Lillard with Kris Murray and Matisse Thybulle both listed as questionable. These teams have already met once this season, with the Trail Blazers beating the Nuggets by 109-107 back on Jan 10 and I think we could be in for another close contest in this one. The Nuggets are the healthier team and they will turn things around sooner rather than later, but they are struggling at the moment, which makes the Trail Blazers tempting as the home underdog. The Nuggets are playing the second game of a back to back set, while the Trail Blazers are playing their first game following the All-Star break, so I will lean towards the Trail Blazers to pull off the minor upset at home in this spot.

Peter Tran's Free Pick: Portland +2.5

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