The Denver Nuggets will host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at Ball Arena. The late start should give the Nuggets some additional time to recover after a road loss to the Utah Jazz last night.
Can Brooklyn stop its recent skid with a solid road win tonight? Find out in best free NBA betting picks and predictions for Nets vs. Nuggets on May 8 at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Nets vs Nuggets odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NBA Sharp Money and Line Movement Report
By Patrick EversonDenver opened -2.5 Friday evening at BetMGM Nevada and got up to -4, where it spent a few hours today before dipping to -3.5 early this afternoon and then to -3 this evening. "The game is really balanced. There's one more ticket on the Nuggets and $500 more on the Nuggets," BetMGM Nevada's Jeff Stoneback said of point-spread action at 6:30 p.m. ET. The total moved from 230.5 to 233, then receded to 231.5. "We need the Under for just a little bit," Stoneback said.
Check out the full line movement for this gameNets at Nuggets betting preview
Injuries
Nets: G James Harden (Out), G Spencer Dinwiddie (Out).
Nuggets: G PJ Dozier (Out), G Will Barton (Out), G Monte Morris (Out), G Jamal Murray (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Nets are 0-4 ATS in their last four games. Find more NBA betting trends for Nets vs. Nuggets.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
The Nuggets got to face the Jazz without Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell last night, but they were unable to come away with a victory in that one. Denver has to be feeling frustrated after that missed opportunity, and the team should respond with a real sense of urgency. The Nuggets are still jostling for position in the Western Conference, where they have an opportunity of catching the Clippers for the third seed in the playoffs.
This matchup with the Nets is an interesting one, as Brooklyn always has a ton of firepower on the floor, even with James Harden sidelined. However, the Nuggets actually have good defensive options against Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Facundo Campazzo lacks the size to truly shut Irving down, but he is an absolute pest on that end of the floor — not unlike Kyle Lowry. If he can just frustrate Irving, he will have done his job.
Meanwhile, Aaron Gordon is a tremendous wing defender, and he’ll have the same job with Durant. Everybody knows it’s impossible to shut him down, but playing hard and contesting shots will give Denver a good chance to win.
Offensively, the Nuggets will run through Nikola Jokic, who is the clear choice for MVP this season. Brooklyn’s defensive options at center are limited, with DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Nicolas Claxton being the three that play the most minutes. Jordan is far too slow to handle the Jokic assignment at this point, and Griffin is definitely too small. Claxton is an interesting option for the Nets, but he’s a little too green for a player with Jokic’s offensive savvy. This is a game that the Serbian could end up putting up stupid numbers.
The Nuggets should have no problem covering this spread, and +144 is a nice looking moneyline play.
PREDICTION: Nuggets +4.5 (-114)
Over/Under pick
The Nuggets were absolutely torched in their loss to the Jazz last night, and that means they will be committed to getting it done on the defensive end in this one. Heading into that meeting with Utah, Denver had gone Under in five of its previous six games. Meanwhile, the Under has hit in each of Brooklyn’s last four contests. The Nets have shot under 45 percent from the floor in three of their last four, and this just seems like yet another game that should end up falling short of the number.
PREDICTION: Under 230.0 (-110)
Player prop pick
Jokic has made two threes in five of his last seven games, and he was 2 for 2 from deep against Utah last night. Not only does the big man make 41.1 percent of his triples, but he also is playing a Brooklyn team that is in the bottom third of the NBA in threes allowed.
The Nets are not a very good defensive team, and that is actually magnified against big men — especially ones that can shoot the ball. The Nuggets will run a lot of pick-and-pop actions in this game, and Jokic would be foolish not to launch a couple of shots from deep.
PREDICTION: Nikola Jokic Over 1.5 Made Threes (+124)
Nets vs Nuggets betting card
- Nuggets +4.5 (-114)
- Under 230 (-110)
- Nikola Jokic Over 1.5 Made Threes (+124)
Picks made on 5/8/2021 at 11:05 a.m. ET
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