Denver Nuggets take on the Utah Jazz: Betting Preview
The Denver Nuggets, one of the best in the NBA last season, head to Utah to face the Jazz. Denver, still missing one of their best players, Jamal Murray, hopes to bounce back from their loss on Monday. They took on the Cleveland Cavaliers, but their offense sputtered through the game, and they wound up losing 99-87.
The Utah Jazz has had a strong start to their season, currently 2-0. The only questions are about the competition they’ve faced thus far. They’ve played the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sacramento Kings. This game against the Denver Nuggets will be their toughest one yet. Will the Jazz be ready to take down the Nuggets? Or will Denver come out on top?
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Without Jamal Murray, Denver leans heavily on Jokic
Nikola Jokic is clearly one of the best players in the NBA, but he isn’t superman. Not having Jamal Murray on the court deals a serious blow to the Denver offense. In order to combat this, the Nuggets have to get more players involved. Guys such as Michael Porter Jr. and Monte Morris need to become a larger part of the offense.
If they fail to do so, this game could look similar to their game against Cleveland. Although it’s early in the season, it’s important to get your offense firing before the later games. Of course, if Murray comes back soon, these problems will become non-existent. For now, the surrounding players need to play a bigger role in the offense.
The Utah Jazz search for their first notable win of the season
Even with the great start to the season, we have to consider who the Jazz have played. The Thunder and the Kings aren’t to the caliber for the Denver Nuggets. Still, we can’t discredit the Jazz and their ability to win games. Their offense is averaging 108.5 points per game while only allowing 93.5.
Limiting their opposition to just 93.5 points per game is remarkable; they’re also 2-0 against the spread. Starting off their NBA season this way is exactly what the Jazz wanted. Rudy Gobert vs. Nikola Jokic is the matchup to watch this time. Gobert plays great defense, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can shut down Jokic.
Let’s take a look at the spread
Per BetUS, the Denver Nuggets come in as 7.5-point favorites. As we said earlier, this is due to them not having Jamal Murray. The Nuggets do, however, have wins over the Phoenix Suns, and San Antonio Spurs to start the season. Bettors using BetUS or Bovada should be happy to know that the spread doesn’t fluctuate between sportsbooks.
The Jazz having 7.5-points to cover is quite a lot, but we can’t lose faith just yet. They have a strong team, led by Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. They recently beat the Sacramento Kings by nine points, giving us a little confidence at the sportsbook. Still, shutting down Nikola Jokic won’t be an easy task.
Our NBA pick for Denver Nuggets vs. Utah Jazz: Utah Jazz -7.5
Frankly, we wish that the spread was smaller on this one, but 7.5 isn’t bad. Since they won’t have to worry about Jamal Murray, the Jazz can focus on Nikola Jokic. Their own offense should be able to put up a ton of points, especially Donovan Mitchell.
If Murray was available, this game would likely go much differently. Unfortunately, with him being out, the Nuggets are at a distinct disadvantage. They’re also on the road, presenting another obstacle. If you are going to bet online, your best bet in this one is to take the home team -7.5 points on Tuesday.
