Denver Nuggets at Charlotte Hornets Betting Preview
Monday night features a West versus East battle of playoff contenders as the Denver Nuggets (44-31, 6th in the West) take on the Charlotte Hornets (39-36, 8th in the East). The Hornets will host this one at the Spectrum Center, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
Denver comes into this one having won two of their last three games, including a 113-107 home win over the Thunder on Saturday.
In the win, Nikola Jokic led all scorers with 35 points while adding 12 rebounds and eight assists. Aaron Gordon and Will Barton combined for 38 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists in the victory.
For the Hornets, they leapfrogged the Nets in the Eastern Conference standings as they beat Brooklyn 119-110 on Sunday.
LaMelo Ball had a game-high 33 points to go along with seven rebounds and nine assists. PJ Washington added a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Nuggets are the slight favorites despite playing on the road. They are -164 to win while the Hornets’ moneyline sits at +138. The spread features Charlotte +3.5 (-108), and the over/under for total points is 232.
More Odds
The Nuggets have the sixth-best odds of winning the Western Conference this year at +1700. The Hornets are +16000 to win the East.
In terms of winning the NBA Finals, the Nuggets have the better odds of winning at +2700. The Hornets are +37000 to win it all.
By The Numbers
These are two of the best offenses in the game. Charlotte ranks fifth overall averaging 114.7 points per game (112.9 at home). The Nuggets rank 10th averaging 111.8 points (109.7 on the road).
Defensively, it is Denver with the edge. In terms of scoring defense, they rank 13th, allowing opponents an average of 109.4 points per game. The Hornets rank 27th, allowing 114.5 points.
Denver Looks To Stay Out Of Play-In Scenario
With just seven games left in the regular season, the Nuggets are trying to hold onto the six seed so they can avoid a potential play-in scenario if they were to drop to seventh. Currently, they have a 1.5-game lead over the Timberwolves for sixth while trailing the Jazz by a game for fifth in the West.
Leading the Nuggets is one of the MVP favorites in Nikola Jokic. He currently has the second-best odds of winning the award at +155.
This season, Jokic leads the Nuggets in points (26.3), rebounds (13.5), assists (7.9), steals (1.4), and blocks (0.9) per game.
The next two biggest threats for the Nuggets include Will Barton (14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists) and Aaron Gordon (14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists).
Charlotte Continues To Surge
The Charlotte Hornets have been sizzling as of late, going 7-3 over their last ten games. While they sit 2.5 games behind the Cavaliers for seventh in the East, they are trying to fend off both the Nets and the Hawks for playoff positioning.
Leading the Hornets’ high-octane offense is Miles Bridges. He is averaging 20 points, seven rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.
Sunday’s contest showed that LaMelo Ball might be the biggest threat on the Hornets. With his 35-point outburst, he is averaging 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.5 steals in 67 games.
Other major contributors for the Hornets include Terry Rozier (19.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals) and Kelly Oubre Jr (15.4 points, four rebounds, 1.1 steals).
Take The Nuggets To Win
Denver has to feel confident coming into this game. Not only are they 7-1 in their last eight road games, but they are 5-1 in their last six games against the Hornets.
While they have had success straight up, it has been a different story in regards to the spread. In their last five road games against Charlotte, they are 0-5 against the spread.
The Nuggets do have the advantage in the fact they had the day off Sunday while the Hornets will be playing their second game in as many days, but this one could be interesting down the stretch.
Feel confidence in taking Denver to win this one outright, but the 3.5-point spread might be a little more iffy. For that reason, just take Denver on the moneyline at -164.
