Betting news, trends, odds and predictions for from various handicappers and websites for Wednesday 5/1/19
Nuggets were +6 (18-12) in turnovers. won Game 1 131-123; Nokie had 37 points for Denver, Lillard scored 39 for Blazers, but had six turnovers. Denver won seven of its last eight games with Portland; last five series games went over the total. Trailblazers are 1-4-1 vs spread in their last six visits to Colorado. Portland won seven of its last nine games overall; they covered only once in last five road games. Nuggets are 3-3 vs spread in last six home games, 4-6 vs spread in last 10 games overall. Five of last seven Denver games went over.
Wednesday, 1 May 2019 • 06:00 PM
577 PORTLAND @ 578 DENVER
Play under PORTLAND on the first half total in All games versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season
The record is 3 Overs and 18 this season (+14.7 units)
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NBA
Long Sheet
Wednesday, May 1
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PORTLAND (57 - 31) at DENVER (59 - 31) - 5/1/2019, 9:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DENVER is 28-18 ATS (+8.2 Units) in home games this season.
PORTLAND is 48-40 ATS (+4.0 Units) in all games this season.
PORTLAND is 36-24 ATS (+9.6 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
PORTLAND is 36-24 ATS (+9.6 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
DENVER is 8-4 against the spread versus PORTLAND over the last 3 seasons
DENVER is 8-5 straight up against PORTLAND over the last 3 seasons
9 of 13 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
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NBA
Wednesday, May 1
Trend Report
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland is 15-4 SU in its last 19 games
Portland is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Portland's last 6 games on the road
Portland is 1-6-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Denver
Portland is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing Denver
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Portland's last 5 games when playing Denver
Portland is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Denver
Portland is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Denver
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Portland's last 9 games when playing on the road against Denver
Denver Nuggets
Denver is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Denver's last 7 games
Denver is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Denver's last 17 games at home
Denver is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Portland
Denver is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing Portland
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Denver's last 5 games when playing Portland
Denver is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Portland
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Portland
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Denver's last 9 games when playing at home against Portland
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NBA
Dunkel
Wednesday, May 1
Portland @ Denver
Game 577-578
May 1, 2019 @ 9:00 pm
Dunkel Rating:
Portland
123.155
Denver
121.645
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Portland
by 1 1/2
212
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Denver
by 4
219 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Portland
(+4); Under
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There was a question about whether or not the Denver Nuggets would be ready for their series with the Portland Trail Blazers. Denver had just survived a tough seven game series with San Antonio in the previous round, and they had only one night off before playing a rested Portland team on Monday night.
Denver responded brilliantly despite the tough situation. Nikola Jokic once again led the way with 37 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, and the Nuggets took a 1-0 series lead with a 121-113 win over the Blazers.
Injuries/Suspensions
Former Denver Nugget Jusuf Nurkic would have loved to be involved in this series. Nurkic was traded from Denver to Portland after the emergence of Jokic, and he enjoys taking on his former team. Unfortunately, Nurkic suffered a terrible leg injury last month, and he will be out well into next season.
Michael Porter Jr. is the only player listed on Denver’s injury report, but the rookie has yet to play this season.
The Line
Oddsmakers opened Denver as a four-point favorite in Game 2, but that number has since dropped a tick. The Nuggets are now 3.5-point favorites against the Blazers on Wednesday night. We have seen some decent line movement on the total, with the over/under rising from 217.5 to 219 after 234 points were scored in Game 1.
The Matchup
Jokic is the key to Denver’s offense. Portland had no answers for him in the first game, and Jokic ended up hitting better than 60 percent of his three-pointers and his field goals. He got to the line often too, using his size to back down Portland’s smaller frontcourt continuously.
Portland doesn’t have a big man that can really stop Jokic, so they are going to have to get creative. In the last series, San Antonio focused its attention on Jokic and tried to make other players beat them. That strategy worked somewhat as Denver’s perimeter shooters have been largely hit or miss. The Blazers may be willing to take that risk given they have two guards that can shoot the lights out.
Damian Lillard had a decent game on Monday night, but it wasn’t his best performance. Lillard hit nearly 60 percent of his field goals, yet he turned the ball over six times and hit just a third of his threes. This postseason has been his coming out party, and he will look to recreate some of his performances from the Oklahoma City series.
There were only three players aside from Lillard that scored more than four points for Portland on Monday. The Blazers are hoping to get more production from the rest of their lineup in Game 2.
The X-Factor for Portland is Enes Kanter. Kanter has had a great postseason, and the player that was cut just two and half months ago went 11-14 and was Portland’s second-leading scorer in Game 1. He was even serviceable on defense, and that’s an area where he has struggled.
Jamal Murray is the X-Factor for Denver. He is usually the other main factor on offense for the Nuggets, and he was fabulous in Game 1 with an 8:1 assist to turnover ratio. Jokic will give his teammates open looks, so it’s up for Murray and the others to sink them.
The Bets
Portland was the sloppier team in Game 1. The Blazers turned the ball over 18 times, and their frontcourt was non-existent aside from Kanter. Their other four frontcourt players scored just 11 points on Monday, and even a team that relies on its guards as much as Portland needs more production from its big men.
I like the Nuggets to go up 2-0 in this series, and I’ll probably back Denver until Portland comes up with a way to slow down Jokic. This is not a good match-up for the guard-dependent Blazers, and we saw that in Game 1.