The Denver Nuggets still have a lot to prove, but as we reach the home stretch of the NBA regular season, the reigning champions remain among the teams to beat. Thanks to the genius of All-Star center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets have withstood many difficulties. NBA Injuries to start 42-19.
Things haven’t gone as well for the Phoenix Suns, who travel to Denver on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET). Denver started as a 7.5-point favorite, with the More less projected at 223.5.
What should punters know? Keep reading as we break down both teams and evaluate the Suns vs. Nuggets Lines in our NBA game preview.
Suns vs. Nuggets 
Day:
Location: Prom Arena; Denver
Streaming:TNT
Suns vs Nuggets Betting Trends
The Phoenix Suns are 24-35-2 ATS, including only 12-15-1 away. Phoenix’s games have moved to the Under, as the Suns are 27-34 against the Over/Under. Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are 27-32-2 ATS, including 14-14-1 at home. The Nuggets are also just 23-37-1 against the Over/Under.
Be sure to keep these betting trends in mind when evaluating the Suns vs. Nuggets lines.
Booker hit
Inconsistency continues to plague the Suns, losing two in a row and four of their last six. Injuries don’t help.
THE Suns just suffered a 118-110 defeat against Oklahoma City Sunday, during which they were without guard Devin Booker (ankle). Jusuf Nurkic had a franchise record with 31 rebounds, the most in an NBA game in 14 years. Ultimately, however, he was just a footnote in yet another disappointing effort by Western Conference contenders.
Phoenix had just gotten Bradley Beal back from a hamstring strain when Booker sprained his ankle during Saturday’s 118-109 loss to Houston. Phoenix’s Big Three of Booker, Beal and Kevin Durant have now missed 47 games, with Beal accounting for more than half of those absences.
Now 35-26, the Suns need to pick up the pace to avoid the playoff play-in tournament. They are seventh in the Western Conference, but only two games separate the No. 5-8 seeds.
Despite this uncertainty, bettors remain optimistic about Phoenix. The Suns are +900 to win the West and +1800 to win the NBA Finals, the fifth shortest stock rating on the chart. The Suns – projected to have 51.5 wins in the regular season – will need to be healthy to take advantage.
Booker, averaging 27.5 points and 6.8 assists, is expected to miss at least a week. Coach Frank Vogel said he would have an update on Booker before Tuesday.
Phoenix has failed to cover in five of its last six games and is just 24-35-2. His coverage rate of 40.7% is second lowest in the NBA, ahead of Atlanta (31.7%). It is important to remember this when analyzing Suns vs. Nuggets lines.
The nuggets hit their stride
As the calendar turns to March, Denver is returning to form. THE Denver Nuggets have won six straight games to stay in contention for the West’s No. 1 seed.
Denver (42-19) is coming off a 124-114 victory over the Lakers SATURDAY. The Nuggets, 1-point favorites, got 35 points and 10 rebounds from Nikola Jokic. They shot 58.7% from the floor, including 11 of 26 from 3-point range.
Jokic is now averaging 25.9 points, 12.2 rebounds and 9.2 assists. His 19 triple-doubles place him second in the NBA behind Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis (21). As such, Jokic came away as a -155 favorite to win his third MVP award.
Denver sits in third place in the West, but only a half-game separates the top three seeds. Oddsmakers clearly like the Nuggets’ chances of surviving the field, rating them as +230 favorites to win the West and +450 to defend their NBA title. For the moment, only the Celtics (+230) are the biggest favorites.
The Nuggets are one of the most efficient teams in the league, ranking fourth in shooting percentage (49.3) and fifth in turnover rate (11.9 per game). They also have a plus-4.2 rating in the top 10 points.
While the Nuggets are 5-1 ATS in their last six games, they have covered 45.8% of their games this season. This puts them among the 10 worst ATS teams. Additionally, they have gone under in the NBA, leading 62.3% of their games. Punters should take note of this for their NBA Predictions.
Handicapping the game
This is the second of three regular season meetings between these NBA teams. Denver won 119-111 at Phoenix on December 1. Jurkic scored 31 points to pace the Suns without Booker (ankle) and Beal (back). Notably, the Nuggets lost Jamal Murry (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (heel).
Reserver and Murray are also unlikely to play in this game.
These absences will draw even more attention to Durant and Jokic, one of NBA triple-double leaders. The Nuggets are 24-5 at home, including 14-14-1 against the spread, and should have a decent advantage thanks to the thin air of Ball Arena.
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