It’s not often we see a player get praised after scoring just 4 points on 2-for-3 shooting from the field, but Nikola Jokic isn’t your average player. The 2-time MVP toyed around with the Detroit Pistons dishing out 16 assists and grabbing 7 rebounds to lead his Nuggets to a 131-114 victory on Monday. I’m willing to bet Jokic will attempt more than 3 shots tonight as the task gets a lot tougher against the division rivals Utah Jazz. Interestingly enough, the Nuggets have only 3 wins in the last 10 meetings between the two sides, one of those wins happened in late October when the two teams met at Ball Arena. The Nuggets have been solid on the road this season with 11 wins in 19 outings. They’re also currently on a 6-game win streak in away games, so let’s see if they can put an end to a 5-game losing streak in games played in Salt Lake City.
Only the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets have been as good as the Utah Jazz over the last 10 games with a 8-2 record. This team is finally clicking at the right time, they’re just 1 game behind the LA Lakers who hold the 10th seed and a spot in the play-in tournament. Lauri Markkanen, who had 27 points in the first meeting of the season vs Denver, has been cooking lately averaging 24 points and almost 9 rebounds on 50% shooting during this hot streak. Utah is no stranger to pulling off upsets, they just beat the Milwaukee Bucks on the road as 8.5-point underdogs. Despite having the best record in the NBA for the past couple of weeks, the oddsmakers still have them as 6.5-point underdogs here. They are an impressive 12-4 ATS in 16 home games this season and are 8-2 ATS in the last 10 head-to-head vs Denver.
