This is a rematch of last season’s Western Conference playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets. The defending champions are on a roll after winning 6 straight games, can Kevin Durant and co. put an end to this tonight? The announcement is at 10 p.m. ET on TNT. I have prepared a Same Game Parlay which is available below.
For side and total predictions for the rest of Tuesday’s matches, simply visit our NBA Pick page.
Now for my SGP bet!
Nikola Jokic will score more than 25 points (-155)
Michael Porter Jr. Over 2.5 made three (-128)
Aaron Gordon Over 3.5 assists (+114)
Parlay same game odds: +435
Nikola Jokic will score more than 25 points (-155)
Pick your poison with Nikola Jokic tonight as he takes on one of his favorite teams, the Phoenix Suns. Over the last 10 games, he’s averaged 31.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 10.8 assists against the Suns, so you can pick any stat you want and go with it. I opted for the points mainly due to the potential absence of Jusuf Nurkic who is questionable with a calf problem. Nurkic just grabbed 31 rebounds in the loss to OKC, facing a player like Jokic after putting in so much work is far from ideal. Especially since the Joker has averaged a triple-double in the 5 matches since the restart. He also just had a huge 35 point outburst against the Lakers, I just don’t see how the Suns counter him inside here.
Michael Porter Jr. Over 2.5 made three (-128)
Another player who dazzled with his performance against the Lakers on Sunday night was Michael Porter Jr. who went a perfect 10 of 10 from the field, including 5 made threes. He’s been on a roll for a while now, averaging 21.2 points per game in his last 9 outings on 42.4% efficiency from downtown. During that stretch, he made multiple threes in all but one game, obliterating that line in his last two against Miami and the Lakers. Devin Booker not playing here also helps, it’s one less elite defender to worry about chasing him around the perimeter. While opposing teams focus primarily on how to contain Jokic, Porter Jr. has one of the easiest tasks in the NBA: draining wide open threes. I’m confident the big guy will find him for some open looks here.
Aaron Gordon Over 3.5 assists (+114)
We see a different Aaron Gordon in these 5 games after the All-Star break. He handles the ball much more often than before, his usage rate is up 0.6% over the 5 victories. More importantly for our bet, his number of assists has gone from 3.2 per game on average during the season to 4.6 per game in his last 5 outings. He’s cleared this line in 4 of his last 6, the Nuggets would be smart to use him more on offense here in order to wear down Kevin Durant who will have to carry a prolonged workload on offense while Devin Booker is out. Over the last 3 meetings with the Suns Gordon is at 4 assists per game, this will be his first game against them since the playoffs last season.
