NBA Picks and Betting Tips: Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets

As the Brooklyn Nets enter this game in a tanking season for the potential of getting Cooper Flagg, they face off against a Nuggets team that will have to rewrite the ship after a very tough start. With the Nets entering after a masterful, shocking upset over the Milwaukee Bucks, Denver will have to get on a winning track after losing their 2nd game to an injured Clippers squad. This game will take place on Wednesday, October 30th at 2:30 AM IST in Ball Arena. Below are our betting tips, recent matchups, top players, and key injuries to cultivate a prediction for this matchup. 

Key Betting Tips & Predictions

1. Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets Moneyline Pick

As Denver is predicted to win this game, they are looking to change how they have recently been playing. Losing some tough games with less activity on both ends of the floor will be something they will commit to so they can hit their season average of 114.9 points per game. With Jokic and Jamal Murray trying to get back to last season’s second-half form, their moneyline is currently at 1.67 or -150 and win outright. Having won 3 straight games against the Nets, Denver’s dominant streak should continue. 

2.  Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets Point Spread Pick

As it is shown, the Nuggets are favored with a -4.5 spread and have the odd of 1.57(63%) to go over that limit. Although they haven’t covered one game this year because they lost all of them, last season Denver had been among the top 5 in spreads. As a huge favorite against a Nets team that also has 2 losses against the spread this year and currently has a 4-6 record against Denver over their last 10 games, Denver could very much hit the over. 

3. Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets Over/Under Pick (Total Points)

The over/under for this game is 241.5 at 1.69 because both offenses can score points. For the Nuggets, although this year the offense has been averaging far less than 100 points, they have gotten better game after game. Meanwhile, Cam Thomas has developed into something for the Nets and helped this offense score over 100 points every single game this season. Seeing this plus the fact that they have scored 225+ points in 6 of their last 7 meetings combined, it should once again be a very high-scoring game. 

Brooklyn Nets vs Denver Nuggets Top Player Props

Nic Claxton Over/Under 9 Rebounds At 1.85: As the Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton finished with his first double-double against Brook Lopez last game, he has been very impressive at fighting for every loose ball. Even though he will stay on Jokic this game, the biggest thing is that Claxton will be able to win a lot of offensive rebounds since he’s more athletic and hopefully help the Nets with put-backs. Even if someone like Ben Simmons puts a lot of pressure when playing forward, Jokic will have to stay on him leaving Claxton one-on-one with someone like Dario Saric off the bench. This will give him a lot more opportunities to gain body control over a lot of Nuggets defenders and Claxton could get key rebounds on the offensive end as well. 

Jokic Over/Under 26.5 Points At 1.83: Although Nikola Jokic has struggled with his scoring to begin this season, he has always shown to get into these slumps and pick it back for the rest of the season. Against a Nets defense that has Nic Claxton, the inside might be a little tough given Claxton’s length, but Jokic will easily dominate the mid-range and three-point shooting game. As someone who can move around and stand on the top of the key, his ability to create shots will be something Claxton won’t be able to guard at all. In addition, the Nets might get switched and an even weaker defender like the young Jalen Wilson will have to stick on him when 2nd units come in. 

Injury News & Impact

Brooklyn Nets: The Nets had already lost an important piece in Day’Ron Sharpe before the season even began, and now have lost two big-time forwards Trenton Watford plus Bojan Bogdanovic for their game against Denver and further. The Watford injury can easily be replaced with the Nets moving in young guys like Noah Clowney and Jalen Wilson, but Bogdanovic isn’t as easy. A veteran leader who plays both ends of the floor, 2 threes and 2 blocks in season opener, he would have been able to get this defense ready to stop a high-flying Nuggets offense, while also being an extra perimeter scorer. Now, without him, Dennis Schroeder and Cam Thomas will have to continue carrying the scoring load which is something that opposing defenses will figure out fast. 

Denver Nuggets:

Meanwhile, Denver doesn’t have any injuries to talk about outside of 3rd-string center Da’Ron Holmes who is just going to try and make a name for himself in the league during his return. 

Head-to-Head Trends

As the last 10 times these squads have faced off, it has been an almost even matchup with the Nuggets having a 6 to 4 lead in victories. Knowing that the Nuggets had covered the spread in all 6 of those games, while the Nets did it in the other 4 which they ended up winning. The biggest key going into this game is looking at them talent-wise and then seeing that Brooklyn has only won one of the previous 5 matches against Denver. In games that have a constant trend of the winning team finishing with over a 5-point victory during these past matchups, a lot more similar is expected in this game with teams scoring 100+ points each the last 8 times that they met. 

Betting Insights & Public Trends

As the public trends show, the Denver Nuggets are favored to win this game with a -4.5 spread and have a 95.7% chance of winning this game. 

Final Prediction

For our final prediction, Denver will win this game with ease as Nikola Jokic should have a comeback game after a couple of tough outings. His ability to dominate in the paint will be key as Nic Claxton will give him a challenge but he will be impossible to stop once Dorian Finney-Smith switches on him. Given the fact that Dennis Schroeder has to guard Jamal Murray, it will give the Nets' point guard some challenges because his agility is something that can’t match the one of Murray's. As someone who can drive into the lane or pull up from three at any point, Schroeder and Simmons will not be able to completely lock him down when they switch with each other. As Miachel Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon will be the forwards, there is not much of a chance for someone like Jalen Wilson to bring great trap ability since he is much smaller and less experienced in playing perimeters. Given that both of those wings can go in for dunks at any time, the Nuggets will control the glass in this game as well. 

Our Prediction: Denver Nuggets win at  1.57  with a -4.5 spread and 241.5 under