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The Nuggets and the Thunder will square off at high attitude in Denver, in what appears to be an evenly matched Thursday night clash in the NBA.
Denver (6-5, 4-2 home) had a pretty good start to the season and won 3 of the last 4 games, although it has to be said that they had a pretty easy schedule. The Nuggets faced many of the NBA worst teams in the opening 11 games, and when they played playoff caliber teams they generally lost those games. Last time out the Nuggets defeated the Nets by 8 points at home a couple of nights ago, after previously being embarrassed by the Golden State Warriors in Denver.
OKC (4-6, 2-4 away) is going through a mini crisis right now after losing three games in a row and falling to a 4-6 record. This was not expected after they added top talent like George and Anthony in the Summer, and becoming legitimate championship contenders. Most of the losses OKC suffered this season were very close and against top teams, so that wasn`t a problem – but in their last outing two nights ago in Sacramento, the Thunder managed to lose by 8 points against one of the worst teams in the league, so that definitely got some alarm bells ringing.
Bet on Nuggets vs Thunder and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!Team news: Denver continues to miss backup center Juan Hernangomez, and he is the only absentee for either team.
The Nuggets are a good, nice team, and it`s always a challenge to play them in Denver because of the high altitude. However, the Nuggets don`t seem to be any different than last season, when they missed the playoffs. The addition of Paul Milsap didn`t really do much, and the hosts remain dependent on the performance of Nikola Jokic.
Jokic might have a tough time here against Steven Adams, who can use all his energy on defense, not having to do so much on the offensive end due to OKC having George, Westbrook and Anthony. Roberson, a top defender, will probably be used to double Jokic some times, so the Nuggets might have problems running their usual offense tonight.
Actually, Denver has had serious problems against OKC recently, losing 9 of the last 10 H2H games, including all five which were played in Denver during this stretch. Some of those games in Denver were close, including a last second winner by Westbrook in the last meeting, but fact is home court advantage didn`t help the Nuggets much against OKC. Their sole win came in the last game of last year’s regular season, when OKC was preparing for the playoffs and didn`t put in much effort.
Coming after three losses in a row and after an absolutely miserable game in Sacramento two nights ago, you would expect the Thunder to get it together and play the basketball which they are capable off in Denver. The matchup advantage should help them do that, and could be the X factor.
The Thunder might need some more time to fully connect the dots with the new players onboard, but look for them to come in completely focused here, desperate to bounce back.
My tip is OKC to cover the 1 point (asian) handicap, I reckon they`ll have a good game here, and odds on the bet are currently dropping. I think the point spread could increase once bettors realize the H2H factor. Prediction: Denver Nuggets – OKC Thunder 102 – 110.
Pick: Thunder -1
Odds: 1.98 @ Sbobet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.84
Event date: 10 November
Very risky bet IMHO, personally I’d stay clear of this game. But lately when I’ve agreed with you you’ve lost, and when I disagreed with you you won, so hopefully the trend continues tonight. 🙂
Initially I was thinking about Philly -6.5 for tonight, but I decided that they are still a very young team and may be prone to an upset after a long winning streak. Plus, the handicap was no joke, 6.5 points is a lot.
I turned my eyes to OKC and I think the matchup will be a big deal here. And they are really due to produce a good performance.