The Denver Nuggets look to salvage a home back-to-back on Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET against the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets haven't been the same team since seeing a number of top players miss several games due to the NBA's health and safety protocols, and they've lost their last three games since seeing everyone but Cody Martin return to action. The Nuggets have struggled with significant injuries this season, but have remained competitive and have won four of their last seven games.
The Nuggets are 15-15 overall and 8-5 at home, while the Hornets are 16-17 overall and 8-13 on the road. Denver is favored by 2.5 points in the latest Nuggets vs. Hornets odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over-under is set at 230.5. Before entering any Hornets vs. Nuggets picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks over the past three-plus seasons. The model enters Week 10 of the 2021-22 NBA season on a stunning 46-23 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning almost $1,900. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Nuggets vs. Hornets. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Hornets vs. Nuggets:
- Nuggets vs. Hornets spread: Nuggets -2.5
- Nuggets vs. Hornets over-under: 230.5 points
What you need to know about the Nuggets
Oklahoma City got the best of Denver when the two met on Wednesday night, 108-94. Denver was down 88-66 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. Center Nikola Jokic (13 points), power forward Aaron Gordon (12 points), and point guard Austin Rivers (12 points) were the top scorers for Denver.
Jokic is following up his MVP year from last season as the league's highest-scoring center yet again, with 25.8 points per game. In two games against the Hornets last year, Jokic played just 30 minutes per game, and averaged 21 points and 10.5 rebounds. Charlotte has allowed the seventh-most points in the paint per game this season, at 48.2. Over his last 10 starts, Jokic has made 58 percent of his shots and scored 25.1 points per game.
What you need to know about the Hornets
Charlotte came up short against the Utah Jazz on Monday, 112-102. The top scorers for the Hornets were forward Miles Bridges (21 points), point guard LaMelo Ball (21 points), and shooting guard Terry Rozier (20 points). Ball has had an up-and-down return since rejoining the lineup following six missed games. He's scored over 20 points twice in his three games back, but made just 2-of-12 shots on Sunday against Phoenix. In Rozier's last five starts, he's scored 20 points twice, but was also held to two points against Portland last Friday and four in the following game against the Suns.
The Hornets have been one of the most dynamic offensive teams this season, but have allowed their opponents to shoot 47 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Making matters worse for Charlotte, the Hornets are one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA, and only pull down 43.6 per contest, while allowing their opposition to grab 48.2.
How to make Hornets vs. Nuggets picks
The model is leaning under on the total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
Who wins Nuggets vs. Hornets? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its NBA picks and find out.
