NBA: Portland Trail Blazers VS Denver Nuggets Pick and Predictions 01/17/2023

Game: 9:10 PM ET,  Tuesday, January 17th, 2023

Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado

TV:  NBA League Pass

Trail Blazers: 21-22, 9th place Western Conference

Nuggets: 30-13, 1st place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Nuggets -6.5, O/U 238.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Nuggets -7, O/U 238.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Nuggets -6.5, O/U 238

Trail Blazers: PF Jerami Grant, SF Josh Hart, C Jusuf Nurkic, PG Damian Lilliard, SG Anfernee Simons

Nuggets: PF Michael Porter JR, SF Aaaron Gordon, C Nikola Jokic, SG Kantavious Caldwell Pope, PG Jamal Murray

A Western Conference big time rivalry. We don’t always hear about it… but The Nuggets and the Blazers have battled for decades… way out there in the mountainous, farming Northwest.  They have had some killer battles at high altitude and hippie altitude.  The Trail Blazers spent a brief cup of coffee at 1st place in the Western Conference early this season.  They have a roster that would surprise some people because the world does not know about SG Anfernee Simons nor PF Jerami Grant… but both are ballers.  However they have since regressed and fallen into the unluckiest of spots this season… The Middle.  When you are in the middle you are not a threat to win the Championship and you are not a threat to win the NBA Draft Lottery.  Both are unforgivable places this season.  The Blazers still have PG Damian Lilliard plying his trade as he remains the player who would most benefit from a trade to a contender in NBA history.  Damian is the real deal.  A franchise player who is closing in on being the best player to ever play for his franchise in multiple categories… a multiple time all-star… a threat whenever he is on the court… and he simply plays for a franchise that never ever made the right moves when they have had momentum.  The Denver Nuggets are the current best team in the Western Conference and not by coincidence they have the best player in basketball in Center Nikola Jokic.  A 2X MVPO about to be a 3X MVP and no hardware to show for it so far.  The reason they have not exceeded has always been Injury riddled… even now they have 5 guys in the injury list… but for the first time in a long time… none of those five guys have any importance in the starting lineup or off the bench.  The Nuggets simply called up a few G-League players to ride the deep bench and won’t notice any difference.

The Blazers have won only 4 of their last 10 games as their slide from 1st place has kept pulling them down all the way to 9th place.  They are however on a 2-game winning streak… Both wins in a back to back against the Dallas Mavericks.  It is not a wild coincidence that Dallas PG Luka Doncic had a bad game in game 1 and did not play in game 2 of the back to back because of an ankle injury…. In their last win, the Blazers beat the Mavericks 140-123. The Blazers got 40 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists from Damian Lillaird… 20 points from SG Anfernee Simons, 20 points from PF Jerami Grant, and 20 points from C Jusuf Nurkic… They hit the Mavs from everywhere on the court.  

The Nuggets have won 8 of their last ten games.  They are on a 7-game winning streak. Going 6-1 ATS over their last 7.  They win and they win big.  They last win against the Orlando Magic 119-116 (the one loss ATS in a while) as C Nikola Jokic played a limited 35 minutes for 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists… so just a casual triple double?... They could afford to rest Jokic as SF Aaron Gordon had 25 points, PG Jamal Murray had 18 points & 7 assists, and PF Michael Porter JR (who many thought would have to retire after his last back injury… 4 back injuries since high school… all of them extended recoveries) got 16 points while shooting 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.

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POR: 21-22, 24-19 ATS, 19-23-1 O/U, 10-14 on the road.

DEN: 30-13, 23-20 ATS, 21-22 O/U, 19-3 in home games. 

The Blazers are 17th in scoring with 113.3 points per game, 16th in rebounds with 43.2 per game, 26th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6, and 23rd in blocks per game with 4.2.

The Nuggets are 7th in scoring with 117.0 points per game, 15th in rebounds with 43.3 per game, 3rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.9, and 20th in blocks per game with 4.4.

Our prediction for Tuesday, January 17th is…. Nuggets 128 - Blazers 118

Bet on the Nuggets as long as the point spread does not hit double digits… which it shouldn’t.

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(will update)

Blazers: PF Jerami Grant.  Jerami is a vet… He has been around a long while… but he was a slow build… with the Thunder, the Pistons… blah blah blah.  He kept growing and improving until now he is the 2nd best player to Damian Frickin’ Lilliard and is highly paid for it.  He is worth a look.

Nuggets:  PF Michael Porter Jr.  Michael knows the elf personally as he has spent more time on the shelf than on the floor.  However, on the rare occasion that he is healthy?... He is a good player.  If he had been healthy all the way through his NBA Journey… with his size and skill?.. He would be a 3X NBA all-star on a huge contract and he and Joker may have been in a few parades.  You have to watch him at least until he is hurt again.

Blazers: Chauncey “all swag and shag” Billups

Nuggets: Michael “soon you will all know me!  As the guy who stands next to Joker!!” Malone