The Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder are set to square off in a Northwest Division matchup at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday at Ball Arena. The Nuggets are 43-31 overall and 21-15 at home, while Oklahoma City is 21-52 overall and 11-25 on the road. OKC has covered the spread in each of its last five games and has also covered in four of its last five head-to-head meetings with Denver.
However, the Nuggets are fighting to hold onto the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference standings and are looking to stay out of the NBA play-in tournament, so they should be the more motivated team on Saturday. Denver is favored by 15 points in the latest Nuggets vs. Thunder odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over-under is set at 230.5. Before entering any Thunder 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 for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past three-plus seasons. The model enters Week 22 of the 2021-22 NBA season on a stunning 79-49 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning over $2,400. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Nuggets vs. Thunder. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Thunder vs. Nuggets:
- Nuggets vs. Thunder spread: Nuggets -15
- Nuggets vs. Thunder over-under: 230 points
What you need to know about the Nuggets
Denver came up short against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, falling 140-130. Denver's loss came about despite a quality game from center Nikola Jokic, who had 28 points and six assists in addition to six boards. Last year's NBA MVP is once again in the discussion and is averaging 26.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.
However, defense has been an issue of late for the Nuggets as they've allowed at least 115 points in their last four games. Denver lost three of those four games and is just 3-7 against the spread in its last 10 games. With Minnesota just a half-game behind in the standings, the Nuggets will need to turn things around defensively to earn a top-six seed and spare themselves the play-in.
What you need to know about the Thunder
Meanwhile, OKC didn't have too much trouble with the Orlando Magic at home on Wednesday as the Thunder won 118-102. Oklahoma City relied on the efforts of point guard Theo Maledon, who had 25 points and six assists, and center Isaiah Roby, who had 21 points along with seven rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was unable to play on Wednesday because of an ankle injury and is currently listed as questionable for Saturday's game. Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in a March 2 win over Denver as 15.5-point underdogs and replacing that production would be difficult.
How to make Thunder vs. Nuggets picks
The model is leaning under on the total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in over 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Nuggets vs. Thunder? And which side covers over 60 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks.
