Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Denver Nuggets Prediction: Can Nikola Jokic Continue His Hot Stretch?
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Denver Nuggets Prediction: Can Nikola Jokic Continue His Hot Stretch?
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Nikola Jokic Over 24.5 PTS (-115) ($115 to win $100)
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Jokic has become one of my favorite players this season. He has been the lead man in the Denver First To 15 movement but has also just been such a treat to watch regardless. He has rebounded so flawlessly and passed with such intelligence but tonight we care about one thing, putting the orange circle through the cylinder. He’s no slouch at that either, Jokic has hit in 5 of his last 7 with his misses falling just short with 22 and 23. In that 7 game span, he is averaging 30.8 points per game and we only need 25 tonight.
Cleveland will still be without Allen which is great for us. Last time versus Cleveland we saw Jokic score 24 against him which would have fallen just short. Without Allen, we have seen Embiid score 35 and Zubac score 24 in the last two games versus Cleveland so although Mobley is a great center he is still allowing many points to the position. In the game that Jokic scored 24 versus Cleveland, he also had to share scoring duties with Michael Porter Jr. and the team only scored 87 points as a whole. Tonight Denver has a projected total between 113 and 114 which is a great sign. This game should remain close with just a 3 point spread and if Jokic can score 24 of his team's 87 against a superior defender in Allen then he can certainly score 25 of his team's 110+ against a downgrade in Mobley.
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This number seems too low for a guy averaging 26 a night on the season against a defense who has been getting torched by bigs lately. The close spread is what made it a must-play for me. Jokic is in what seems like a two-way race for MVP and a high-scoring night from him tonight would continue to help his case. I think this is a disrespectful line against a defense that just made Zubac look like Shaq. Jokic will be doing it all tonight but we’re just focusing on the one that’s the most fun to watch, scoring that ball.