Denver at Portland
Time: 9:30 PM CT, ESPN
Spread: POR -2
Total: 214

Odds c/o Bovada

The Denver Nuggets are 14-7 and lead the Northwest Division. It will travel to face Portland in the second game of a Friday night ESPN double-header. The Nuggets are 2-point underdogs on the road in a game with an over/under set at 214 points. It will air at 9:30 PM CT on ESPN.

DEN

The Denver Nuggets have won its past four games to propel itself to No. 1 in the Northwest Division. Wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, and L.A. Lakers have mostly come in convincing fashion. The average margin of victory over the streak is 16.5 points, and the Nuggets are rolling.

Denver does it with a uniquely constructed offense that runs through its starting center Nikola Jokic. The highly coordinated big man is averaging 16.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, and a team-leading 7.1 assists while posting a team-best PER of 24.1. While Jokic is slow afoot, he does just about everything right when he has the ball in his hands. His distributive powers have helped the Nuggets really spread out its scoring load, with six players averaging 10 points or better on the season. It also allows shooting guard Jamal Murray to start at the point guard spot and function as a shoot-first 1. Murray leads the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game while dishing out 4.5 assists per night. Gary Harris is one of the league’s underrated 2-guards, and he ranks No. 2 on the team in scoring at 16.8 per contest.

The Nuggets have been without swingman Will Barton the majority of the season, which is no small subtraction. Barton was averaging 16.5 points per game in his two appearances but he suffered a right hip injury that required him to leave the game on a stretcher. There are no updates on his injury, but he was said to be sidelined for six weeks after sustaining it on Oct 21. His injury has opened up playing time for Malik Beasley, who has averaged 7.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18 minutes a night while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 36 percent from three.

With the Nuggets cluster of guards and wingmen, the injury was a blessing in disguise for Beasley, who has mostly dwelled in the G-League since leaving Florida State as a one-and-done two years ago. The Nuggets still seem to be a team lacking balance, but perhaps that is just the beauty of its unorthodox style revolving around Jokic. Paul Millsap has seen his role decline because Trey Lyles is performing well in the Mile High City. Millsap is averaging just 13 points per game, but Lyles adds another 10; and doing the math, that is the same as any good full-time 4-man more or less.

POR

Portland had been rolling this season, but it has now lost three of its past four, and five of its past eight, overall.
Prior to those losses, it put together a four-game win streak. During that streak, it defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers, and most recently, the Boston Celtics.

In the 100-94 win over Boston, Portland got a well-rounded scoring effort from its starters, placing four of the five in double-figures, paced by Damian Lillard’s 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Portland shot 45.3 percent in the game, and it was 14 of 36 from three-point range. It held Boston to 38 percent shooting, and it out-rebounded the Celtics 55-42 in the game.

Lillard, for his part, has been sensational this season. The All-Star is averaging 26 points, five rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. His backcourt sidekick CJ McCollum is rounding into form too, averaging 20.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. The Blazers use its starting center Josuf Nurkic just 24.9 minutes a game, but he averages 15.3 points and 10.5 rebounds in that time, making the most of it with his high energy play.

The reduction in his time means more for Zach Collins, and the second-year big man has also looked good.

Collins is averaging 10.2 points and 1.23 blocks per game in 21 minutes a night. The Blazers have good depth, and its bench is greatly improved with the better play of Evan Turner and Nik Stauskas, who has revived his career in Portland. Stauskas is averaging 7.8 points per game in his 19 minutes a night. The Blazers now seem to have the depth it has lacked in previous seasons, and it is making a great difference evidenced by its No. 2 position in the Western Conference thus far.