Venue: Ball Arena.
The development of the Denver Nuggets has reached the point where the team is seriously considered one of the top favorites of the season. The next game will be played at home against the Toronto Raptors. The Canadiens have a second wind towards the end of the regular season. Will the Raptors pick up a crucial win after a tough away game?
Denver could do better, and now can they do it again?
After signing Aaron Gordon in the course of this championship last season, all the other trades, the Nuggets were getting stronger and stronger among the favorites in the West. Unfortunately, Jamal Murray was injured and the situation has deteriorated considerably in light of how well the point guard played in the playoffs last season.
Still, you can’t write the Nuggets off completely. The team has changed drastically and isn’t the same team it was in any case, with or without Murray. Also, Denver are now a very experienced team in the Western Conference - the kind of team that usually sees a problem not as a misfortune, but as a challenge.
Most importantly, let’s not forget Nikola Jokic’s form and the progress he’s made. The Serb is capable of being an unstoppable factor against many of the conference’s teams. Taking into account this fact, Karl Malone can build a very interesting and fundamentally new team.
Did Toronto want to extend their season?
The Raptors are quite a disgrace. Where do you see a team that’s given an ultimatum: don’t play or get out of the country? You know where in Canada! They also ruined the NHL season...
Well, the failure of Nick Nurse’s team, which is only 11th in the East, says nothing except that this season is no indicator at all. Neither million-dollar contracts nor five-star hotels in Florida will replace home and routine.
By the end of the championship, though, some kind of desperate fatigue of Torontonchanged almost to rage. As a result, 5 wins in the last 7 games. They lost only to the strong Knicks and the superstar Brooklyn. They also beat Brooklyn during the same period. They are 2 wins away from the play-in zone.
Expert Betting Tips
Toronto have OG Anunoby. He’s a rare kind of basketball player these days who can stop Nikola Jokic. Plus, in the first game in March, it was a dual center - Anunoby and Siakam. But that was in Tampa. Home court is a factor for the Nuggets; Colorado teams are always characterized by good home-field performance. There is a chance that at some point, the Raptors will simply tire and Denver will crush their opponent. The prediction is a Denver win.
Betting options:
- Denver to win with a handicap (-4.5) at odds of about 1.90;
- Denver’s individual Total Over 114.5 at odds around 1.90;
- Total points - Denver 2nd half over 57.0 at almost 2.00.