Denver Nuggets vs Phoenix Suns betting tips and predictions for Tuesday’s NBA Playoffs game on TNT. Denver looks to bounce back after back-to-back defeats on the road as they host the Suns in Game 5 at Ball Arena. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Denver Nuggets
For the first time this postseason Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets have lost 2 games in a row. It wasn’t his fault that they lost though. Jokic posted another monster stat line with 53 points and 11 assists. The big man was fined $25.000 for his incident with Suns owner Mat Ishbia during the game, luckily he avoided a suspension which would have put a serious dent into the Nuggets’ chances here.
Slowing down the pace is something Denver will have to think about doing here, they clearly cannot hang with the likes of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker when the game is fast. Returning back home will make everyone comfortable again. Denver has a 7-game win streak at Ball Arena going into tonight’s game, plus they are also 4-1 SU in the last 5 meetings with the Suns there.
Phoenix Suns
Sunday’s win was the Suns’ 10th in the last 15 meetings with the Nuggets and once again KD and Booker came up big. They combined to score 72 points on an efficient 25-for-37 shooting from the field, but this time around they finally got a bit of help from their bench as Landry Shamet scored 5 threes and finished with 19 points.
There’s still no sign of Chris Paul coming back, that could happen for Game 6 according to reports. So once again both Durant and Booker will have to play a perfect game in order for Phoenix to stand a chance here, the question is how long is that sustainable? On the road the Suns are only 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games and have just 1 win in their last 5 visits to Ball Arena. The oddsmakers have them as 4-point underdogs in tonight’s game.
The Nuggets cannot afford to take tonight’s game lightly. If they lose it’s 3-2 Phoenix with a home game coming up, which would be really difficult to come back from. Nikola Jokic will be motivated to play well after the fine he received from the league, I think the Nuggets take care of business at home. Denver to cover.
Denver Nuggets vs Phoenix Suns Predictions & Odds
Only 1 of the 4 games so far hasn’t seen 227.5 points which is the projected total for Game 4. The two teams haven’t shown any regard for slowing down the pace, but to the surprise of many it has favored the Suns more than the Nuggets. Until Chris Paul returns I don’t expect a change in strategy from Phoenix, they are thriving right now and have scored 120+ points in back-to-back games.
I do expect a bit more effort on defense from the Nuggets though as head coach Michael Malone had pointed out at the post game press conference. In the opening 2 games of the series Denver held the Suns to just 107 and 87 points which resulted in 2 easy wins. At home the Nuggets went 19-26-1 on the O/U this season, so the recipe to get the win is quite clear here. If they can somehow contain KD and Booker they’ll be in a solid spot to get the victory. I’ll be taking the under here.
