Portland and Denver are set to do battle on Tuesday night in a battle of scorching hot point guards. Jamal Murray scored the most efficient 50 points in NBA history against the Cavs on Friday, while Damian Lillard has continued to wreak havoc. Portland did just lose by 32 points on Monday night, though.
They will be trying to shake that loss right off and aim to get immediately back into the win column. It’s crazy that you can hold Chris Paul to four points and still lose to his team by 30+. Sometimes, that’s just how the ball bounces, where one guy is shut down, and the others step up in such a way that it just means nothing. A short memory is the best thing to have in this league.
Denver, on the other hand, has been playing solid basketball, still figuring things out in the rotation. Michael Porter Jr. is clearly not a guy Mike Malone is a big fan of. Even though he scored 10 points in the first quarter of the last game, he played just 19 minutes. The team is giving minutes to smaller guards instead of MPJ, even with several starters out. It’s very suspect.
ODDS:
The spread is surprisingly high, set at Denver -8. The over/under is 230.5.
Blazers Aiming to Appear in Win Column
A team can lose by 30 points one night and win by 30 the very next. It’s happened before. It is always a possibility. The best part about professional basketball is that anything can happen. All of the games are played in reality and not on paper, and very obviously, the unexpected becomes the expected every single night.
Damian Lillard is having another MVP level season, as his numbers have continued to impress. Surprisingly, he was NOT voted as an All-Star starter, missing out behind Luka Doncic. And Luka himself was even surprised, mentioning Lillard may have been more deserving. The way that Dame hasn’t missed a single step, even playing much of the year without CJ McCollum, is very telling of his true ability.
Portland’s defense will need to step up. Enes Kanter has a hard matchup with Jokic.
Denver Looking to Stay Hot
It’s been an oddly up-and-down year for the Nuggets, but good things have been happening of late. And it looks like Facu Campazzo is a lot better than any casual fans could have thought he’d be. He’s a wizard with the basketball and is becoming a huge part of the team’s rotation.
Nikola Jokic is, without a doubt, one of the MVP frontrunners this year, though it’s hard to say what it will take to win the award. He is playing great, averaging nearly 28-13-9, which is just incredible for a 6’11 center. There isn’t much he can’t do, and the team is truly lucky to have found him in the draft all those years ago.
To win tonight, the team will need another big game from Jamal Murray.
Portland Leaves with Win
I am betting the underdog, here. Dame will go for 40 to guide Portland to the primetime win.
FREE PLAY: PORTLAND +8
OVER/UNDER: OVER 230.5
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