Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The first game of this series didn't turn out well for the Denver Nuggets. On the road, they took their first loss of the series by a large margin. After losing 123-107 to the Golden State Warriors, the Denver Nuggets are preparing for Game 2.

The last thing they need is to go down 0-2 to start the series. So, what can the Denver Nuggets do to pull off a win over the Warriors today?

Golden State had Stephen Curry on limited minutes in Game 1 of this series. Even with Curry coming off of the bench, he put up 16 points in 22 minutes. There's a bigger story in this game, though, Jordan Poole.

Poole was able to lead the Warriors to victory and will look to do so again tonight. With the Warriors coming in as seven-point favorites, let's make our pick for this game.

Denver Nuggets: Denver's defense better come in prepared

Although Curry might not be in the game for much more than 20 minutes, Denver has more to worry about. One of the players they had trouble stopping was Jordan Poole, who put up 30 points against Denver.

Step one for the Nuggets to win this game is tightening down on defense. If they can squeeze the Warriors' offense, they should be able to keep this game close.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Nuggets need to return to regular-season form. Throughout the regular season, the Nuggets averaged 112.65 points per game, ranking 10th in the NBA.

With the Warriors scoring 123 points in Game 1, the Nuggets will need to keep up. The only way they can do that is by playing better defense and creating scoring opportunities of their own.  

Golden State Warriors: Curry could play more minutes today

There's a chance, albeit small that Stephen Curry plays more minutes tonight. Depending on how he feels, we could see Curry tally 25 minutes today.

An important thing to note is that James Wiseman has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Tasked with guarding Nikola Jokic is Kevin Looney, who had six points and seven rebounds in Game 1. 

For the Warriors, the obvious key to winning this game is stopping Nikola Jokic. If they can do this, they can take a 2-0 lead in the series. However, the quick turnaround between games could slow them down today.

They'll also see some tighter defense on Jordan Poole tonight. In order to keep Curry healthy, Coach Steve Kerr could keep him out for the majority of the game.

Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors Betting Pick

After looking at both of these teams and what they bring to the game, we'll take the Denver Nuggets. Although we think the Warriors will win tonight, we think this game will be much closer. The Nuggets are seven-point underdogs, giving them quite the cushion in tonight's game. 

One of the main reasons for our pick is because Jordan Poole will likely be focused on tonight. We don't think the Nuggets quite estimated his ability correctly in the first game. Look for the Nuggets to have a closer competition with the Warriors today.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Denver Nuggets +7, OVER

Prop Picks

Denver (-115) OVER 108.5 Points

Denver is averaging 112.7 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 10 in the league, while shooting 48.3 percent from the field, which ranks No. 2. Scores have gone OVER in five of the Nuggets’ last six road games and 10 of their last 14 overall.

With Dunkel predicting a Golden State victory by the score of 118-114, take the Nuggets (-115) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 108.5 points against the Warriors.

Nikola Jokic (-110) OVER 28.5 Points

Jokic averaged 27.1 points per game during the regular season, which ranked No. 1 on the Nuggets and No. 6 in the league. That average increased to 28.0 points per game in four games versus the Warriors and 34.2 points per game in his last 10 games overall.

With Dunkel predicting the Nuggets to go OVER their Vegas team total, take Jokic (-110) to finish OVER his Vegas total of 28.5 points against the Warriors.

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