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Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers (21-22) hit the road to take on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets (30-13) in a Northwest Division clash on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at Ball Arena. Denver is 9-3 at home, while Rip City is 10-14 on the road. The Nuggets are coming off a 119-116 win over the Orlando Magic and have won six straight. Portland is coming off an impressive 140-123 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Jamal Murray, Bones Hyland, and Vlatko Cancar are listed as day-to-day for the Nuggets, while Gary Payton II is day-to-day for the Blazers. 

Tip-off is at 9 p.m. ET. Denver is favored by 7 points in the latest Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over/under is set at 233. Before making any Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from the proven computer simulation 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 four-plus seasons. The model enters Week 14 of the 2022-23 NBA season on a stunning 45-20 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,200. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers and just locked in its picks and NBA predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers:

  • Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers spread: Nuggets -7
  • Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers over/under: 233 points
  • Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers money line: Denver -285, Portland 228
  • Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers picks: See picks here

What you need to know about the Nuggets

The Nuggets skirted by the Orlando Magic 119-116 on Sunday thanks to a clutch deep three from center Nikola Jokic with 0:01 left to play. Denver can attribute much of their success to Jokic, who recorded his 88th career triple-double on 17 points, 14 dimes, and 10 rebounds, and power forward Aaron Gordon, who had 25 points and five assists along with eight boards.

Jokic has catapulted himself to the front of the race for the 2022-23 NBA MVP award. The two-time reigning MVP has a very realistic chance at averaging a triple-double for the season, and his advanced metrics are head and shoulders above his competition. The 27-year-old Serbian has a PER of 31.90 thus far, with the next closest active player being Joel Embiid at 30.83. Gordon is also playing at a near All-Star level for Denver, averaging 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while playing All-NBA caliber defense. 

What you need to know about the Trail Blazers

Meanwhile, Portland strolled past the Dallas Mavericks with points to spare on Sunday, taking the matchup 140-123. It was another big night for Portland's point guard Damian Lillard, who had 40 points and six assists.

Lillard is once again playing at an All-Star level, averaging 28.8 points, 7.1 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. His supporting cast includes Anfernee Simons (21.9 points, 4.0 assists per game), Jerami Grant (21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds per game), and Jusuf Nurkic (14.7 points, 10.0 rebounds per game). Portland is 1-2 straight-up in three matchups against Denver this season.

How to make Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets picks

The model has simulated Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over on the point total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in almost 60% of simulations. You can only see the model's pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Nuggets vs. Blazers? And which side of the spread hits almost 60% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Blazers vs. Nuggets spread you need to jump on Tuesday, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.