Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets Free NBA Pick, 8–6–2020

Free NBA Pick by Abe Howland of SportsPicksForum.com

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets

Time: Thursday, August 6, 8:00 PM EST
Odds: Denver +3.5

The Denver Nuggets look to maintain their recent regular-season domination of the Portland when they oppose the Trail Blazers on Thursday night at the Visa Athletic Center near Orlando, FL. The Trail Blazers have become the favorites for clinching the final playoff spot in the West after winning two of their three seeding games. The Nuggets are also (2–1) under the bubble and have bounced back nicely after getting blown out by Miami in their first game.

The Trail Blazers enter Thursday’s matchup with the Nuggets just one game back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the №8 seed in the Western Conference. Damian Lillard led five Trail Blazers in scoring with 21 points while Jusuf Nurkic and Carmelo Anthony finished with double-doubles on Tuesday as the Blazers defeated the Houston Rockets 110–102.

The Nuggets have won two straight after beating the Thunder and most recently San Antonio on Wednesday, 132–126. Michael Porter Jr. stayed hot on Wednesday evening, finishing with 30 points and 15 rebounds, followed closely by Nikola Jokic who finished with 25 points and 11 assists. The Nuggets are 3–0 against Portland this season and have won nine of the past 10 meetings. They rolled to a 127–99 home win over the Trail Blazers in the most recent matchup on Feb. 4th.

Trail Blazers are 4–12–1 ATS in the last 17 meetings vs. the Nuggets but they have looked great since the season restart and they will be hoping to maintain their momentum with the 8th seed in the West within reach. The Nuggets have struggled with injuries and Denver has failed to cover the spread in 5 of their last 7 overall. The public may get behind the Nuggets as underdogs but the value lies with the hot hand and the Portland Trail Blazers -3.5.

Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Free Pick: Portland Trail Blazers -3.5