Fresh off a pair of losses, the Nuggets return to action to try and slow the Mavericks down. It has not been the start they wanted, though it was known it would be tough to win without Jamal Murray around. As for the Mavs, they are dealing with an injury to Kristaps Porzingis but did, in fact, pick up a win in their Thursday night game.
The Mavs are a team that has high expectations for themselves, though they made minimal moves to improve their roster in the offseason. They made a coaching change and then added a few wing players and a new big man who hasn’t really gotten any rotational minutes to this point. The things that stayed the same were Luka Doncic and extending Tim Hardaway Jr.
Denver is a team in trouble without its second-best player but should be able to get through a decent regular season. The roster has some gritty guys, but certainly, nobody else is coming close to what Murray is able to provide on the floor. Monte Morris tends to play better when he’s coming in as the sixth man rather than as a starter here.
As for how this game expects to go, it will be a battle between superstars, both of them trying to carry their team home. Let’s see.
ODDS AND LINES:
The spread for the game is set at DEN -1.5. The over/under is sitting at 220.5 points. The DEN moneyline is -120, and the DAL line is +102.
Mavs Seeking Early Road Win
Teams are not going to be judged by wins and losses over the first several weeks of a season, but it is always interesting to see who comes out playing the best and who struggles a bit more to get the win off. It’s tough after a long offseason to quickly find the mojo.
With Luka Doncic running the show, they are usually in good hands. But it will be all about what happens in the playoffs for the Mavs last year. They blew a golden chance against the Clippers a season ago, ultimately falling in seven games.
They cannot have it happen again. Make the playoffs, win one game at a time, advance.
Nuggets Looking to Snap Small Skid
After Cleveland and Utah blitzed them in consecutive games, the Nuggets are trying to re-enter the win column. Denver is a team that is gritty at pretty much every position and makes up for the talent gap by just playing good, hard basketball.
This is a squad that is very well-coached. Sacramento still looks foolish for getting rid of Mike Malone very early in his second season. He has proven to be a tremendous leader and somebody who can always inspire his players to play their best every night.
Jokic is not going to be contained by anything the Mavs can throw at him, so as long as the unit as a whole comes to play, they should have no issues taking a win.
NUGGETS WIN CLOSE GAME
Denver will just eke out a win here, improving to 3-2.
FREE PLAY: DEN -1.5, UNDER 220.5
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