Trail Blazers @ Nuggets Predictions: Denver -2 for us on the spread

The Nuggets were beaten in Game 1 of this series and they need a big night to even it up. Can they do it? Zach Rainey takes a look at the game from a betting perspective...

In the night cap, we have Game 2 of the Portland Trail Blazers versus Denver Nuggets series.

I am exposed for a lot in this one, as I hammered the Nuggets when the series price opened and hit it twice more as the Nuggets moved to the underdog.

I still think Denver can come back and win this series. You can’t count out the league’s (likely) MVP, and I think Michael Porter Jr. has the chance to become a household name in these playoffs.

Despite falling in Game 1, the Nuggets opened up as -1.5 favorites for Game 2 and has since moved to -2.

It was truly Dame Time down the stretch of Game 1. Lillard got his teammates involved early but took over when he needed to. Almost by himself, he turned a nine-point deficit into a 10-point lead.

However, I think we see some things start to even out in Game 2.

The first of which is the 3-point shooting. I don’t see Denver shooting 30 percent from range the rest of the series, and on the flip side, I don’t see Portland shooting 47 percent for the series either.

I think Anfernee Simons comes back to earth from his 14-point performance on 4-of-5 from distance, along with Carmelo Anthony who shot 50 percent from deep.

The Nuggets will have to make Portland pay when they have Carmelo on the floor and go right at him. I didn’t see as much as I would’ve liked in the aggressiveness department for Denver, resulting in just eight free-throw attempts. To make it worse, they made just four. Meanwhile, Portland converted 18-of-19 attempts from the charity stripe.

As we saw last year, being down in the series is nothing new to Denver, after coming from behind down 3-1 to beat Utah. I know it took an otherworldly effort from Jamal Murray, but the guys in that locker room know what it takes to get the job done, so I’m not selling my position on the Nuggets yet.

I’ll take Denver with the points at -2.

For our prop of the night, this one I feel like is almost too easy, so I’m a bit hesitant, but with both the total and the value, I can’t let this one go.

Jokic to record over 7.5 assists is currently +110 at PointsBet, and +115 at 888Sport, BetRivers and Unibet. Jokic averaged 8.3 assists, but was held to just one assist in Game 1. I think he gets back closer to his average tonight, so take the MVP to utilize perhaps his best skill in Game 2.