Nuggets vs Rockets Odds, Picks and Prediction
- The Houston Rockets visit the Denver Nuggets at 5pm ET on Saturday, Nov. 6th in Denver
- The Rockets come into the game 1-7 overall, while the Nuggets sit at 4-4 on the year
- See below for the latest odds, analysis and the best bet
It will be a battle of Western Conference teams to begin the NBA action on Saturday, Nov. 6th when the Houston Rockets visit the Denver Nuggets in the first of three regular season matchups between the two teams this year.
Going into the game, the Nuggets are clear favorites to come out on top at home, entering as 10.5-point favorites against the Rockets.
Denver enters the game at 4-4 overall but are fresh off back-to-back road defeats against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Nuggets most recently fell to the Grizzlies 108-106 on Wednesday, after being defeated by Memphis 106-97 on Monday.
Houston comes in to the contest with a record of 1-7 and losers of six in a row, most recently falling on the road 123-111 to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday in Phoenix.
Nuggets vs Rockets Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Rockets | +10.5 (-110) | +400 | Over 217 (-110) |
| Denver Nuggets | -10.5 (-110) | -556 | Under 217 (-110) |
Odds as of Nov. 5th from BetMGM
Injury Report
The injury report for both teams is limited to a few players out on both the Nuggets and Rockets sides.
Denver will be without Jamal Murray (left knee), Vlatko Cancar (left hip sprain) and Petr Cornelle (G League), who are all listed as out.
Houston will be without Danuel House Jr. (right foot sprain), Garrison Mathews (G League) and Daishen Nix (G League), who are officially out. Daniel Theis (toe soreness) is listed as questionable.
Nuggets Aim to End Losing Skid at Home
After getting the season off on a strong note behind a 4-2 record, Denver has hit a bit of a snag as of late while dropping two straight. On Saturday, the Nuggets return home after a three-game road trip to open up a five-game home stand in front of their home crowd.
One key to the Nuggets coming out on top will ride on their defensive performance, as they have been much better defensively in wins compared to losses this season. In four wins, Denver has allowed opponents to average 90 points per game with 18.8 turnovers forced. In losses, the Nuggets have given up 108.8 points while forcing just 14.3 turnovers.
As a team, Denver has struggled offensively, averaging just 101.4 points a game (26th in NBA) while committing 17.1 turnovers per game (29th in NBA). The Nuggets are shooting well from the field, tallying a mark of 47.4 percent (3rd in NBA), but that hasn’t translated into other aspects of the offense to this point in the year.
After an MVP season last year, Nikola Jokic is off to another impressive start to lead the Nuggets this season. Jokic leads the team with 25.1 points per game, along with 13.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals. Will Barton has been a nice piece to counter Jokic outside of the paint, averaging 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals a game.
Rockets Continue to Struggle
Houston has had a rough start to the season, to say the least. Beginning the year having lost seven of their first eight games, the Rockets are quickly falling to the bottom of the league standings which many anticipated coming into the year.
Houston has been underwhelming defensively which should allow Denver to have its way offensively in this game. In seven losses, the Rockets are giving up 115.1 points per game while also allowing opposing offenses to shoot 46.8 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from three.
Offensively this season, Houston hasn’t been much better, averaging 104.6 points per game (23rd in NBA) and is shooting 44 percent from the field (21st in NBA) and 34.8 percent from three (13th in NBA).
Individually, Christian Wood has basically been the lone bright point for Houston through eight games, leading the team with 19.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game. The Rockets will rely heavily on him once again to try and pull off an upset in Denver.
Big time C-Wood 😤 pic.twitter.com/uocT0YJvaa
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 5, 2021
Rockets vs Nuggets Pick
Even though both teams have been struggling as of late, one will have a bounce-back performance to get back into the win column on Saturday night in Denver. That team should be the Nuggets, who are the better team and have the upper hand of playing at home where they are 2-1 this season.
Expect Denver to be able to take down Houston handily, while maybe even surpassing the spread of 10.5 points that has been applied to the game by oddsmakers.
When it comes to the best bet of the night, go with the over on 217 points. Given both teams have struggling defenses, both Denver and Houston are likely to put up points in the contest.
Pick: Over 217 (-110)
Mitchell has a decade of experience in journalism, marketing, communications and digital fields, having covered sports teams and leagues on all levels. He has spent more than seven years covering the WNBA and NBA, among other sports. You can follow him on Twitter @M_Hansen13.
