Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 12/23/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver Nuggets

Date: Friday, December 23, 2022

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: Altitude

The Denver Nuggets welcome the Portland Trail Blazers at Ball Arena on Friday.

The Trail Blazers took the court against the Thunder and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 101-98 in their last contest. Portland wrapped up the game with a 49.4% field goal percentage (39 of 79) and knocked down 14 out of their 36 shots from beyond the arc. From the charity stripe, the Trail Blazers knocked down 6 of 9 attempts for a rate of 66.7%. When discussing getting rebounds, they collected 36 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 29 assists for the contest as well as forcing 18 turnovers and getting 9 steals. When it comes to the defense, Portland allowed their opponent to shoot 46.8% from the field on 36 of 77 shooting. Oklahoma City recorded 19 assists and had 9 steals in this matchup. Furthermore, Oklahoma City collected 37 rebounds (9 offensive, 28 defensive) and had 5 blocks. Oklahoma City finished shooting 84.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 21 of their 25 shots. They also converted 8 out of their 24 attempts from 3-point range. When talking about fouls, the Trail Blazers left the arena with 22 while the Thunder totaled 16 fouls.

Jerami Grant is one guy who came through in the matchup. He notched 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting. He played 35 minutes played and also snagged 5 rebounds. Grant finished the game shooting 50.0% from the field and dished out 4 dimes.

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Portland enters this contest with a win-loss mark of 17-15 on the campaign. They average 112.1 pts per game (18th in the NBA) while shooting 47.7% from the floor. The Trail Blazers are hitting 38.9% on 3-point shots (414 of 1,063) and 77.4% from the free throw line. As a team, Portland is pulling in 42.9 boards per game and has totaled 774 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 16th in basketball in terms of passing. They are turning it over 15.4 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 20.3 personal fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Trail Blazers have forced 13.8 turnovers per game while drawing 21.3 personal fouls. They rank 21st in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 812 surrendered this year. The Trail Blazers are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 47.3% (1,317 of 2,785) and they relinquish 41.5 rebounds per game as a unit. They are relinquishing 35.7% from beyond the arc and they are ranked 12th in basketball in opponents points per game (111.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Nuggets got the victory with a final of 105-91 when they played the Grizzlies. The Nuggets snagged 35 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 48 for the game. They gave up possession of the ball 17 times, while getting 9 steals in this game. The Grizzlies earned 21 fouls for the contest which got the Nuggets to the free throw line for a total of 25 attempts. They were able to convert 15 of the free throws for a percentage of 60.0%. In reference to 3-point shots, Denver converted 10 out of 27 attempts (37.0%). When all was said and done, the Nuggets walked away from this one shooting 40 out of 89 from the field which gave them a percentage of 44.9%. The Nuggets allowed the Grizzlies to convert 36 of their 81 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 44.4% for the contest. They finished 19.2% from beyond the arc by shooting 5 of 26 and finished the game at 14 out of 21 from the charity stripe (66.7%). In relation to cleaning the glass, Denver permitted Memphis to collect 42 in total (7 on the offensive side).

Aaron Gordon was important for the Nuggets in this contest. He converted 9 out of 16 in the game for a field goal rate of 56.3%, and had 7 rebounds. Gordon recorded 24 points in his 28 mins on the court and tallied 4 assists for this game.

Denver has a win-loss mark of 19-11 for the season. As an offensive team, the Nuggets are connecting on 50.3% from the field, which is ranked 2nd in the league. Denver has tallied 3,463 points on the season (115.4 per game) and they average 43.4 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 28.2 times per game (2nd in the NBA) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 15.4 times per game. The Nuggets commit 19.3 personal fouls every game and they shoot 74.1% from the free throw line.

The Denver defense gives up 36.4% on 3-point attempts (377 of 1,037) and opponents are knocking down 75.5% of their foul shots. They relinquish 26.4 assists and 40.0 boards per contest, which ranks them 27th and 2nd in the league. The Nuggets are ranked 17th in the league in points allowed per game with 114.0. They are able to force 13.8 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 48.7% from the field (28th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Denver

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