Trail Blazers vs Nuggets Odds and Picks

• The Denver Nuggets are eight-point home favorites over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night at Ball Arena
• The Trail Blazers are coming off their biggest loss of the season, 132-100 at the Phoenix Suns on Monday
• The odds, line and spread for Trail Blazers-Nuggets can be found below along with a prediction

Two Northwest Division rivals will try to get back on track when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Denver Nuggets at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday at Ball Arena.

The Trail Blazers (18-12) have dropped back-to-back games following a six-game winning streak. They were routed 132-100 by the Suns on Monday night in Phoenix as seven-points underdogs.

The Nuggets (16-14) return from a 1-3 road trip that ended Sunday with a 123-115 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Denver was a 2.5-point favorite and are the chalk again Tuesday.

Trail Blazers vs Nuggets Odds

Odds taken Feb. 23 from FanDuel

Blazers Toasted By Suns

The 32 points on Monday night was the Trail Blazers’ largest margin of defeat this season. They trailed 63-54 at halftime then the Suns broke it open by outscoring Portland 37-17 in the third quarter to increase their lead to 100-71.

oof#RipCity pic.twitter.com/1GvhhM0E0z

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 23, 2021

Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 24 points, 16 of which came in the first half. That ended a streak of four straight games of at least 31 points for Lillard, who has a season scoring average of 29.8.

Lillard has another streak of 10 games in a row with 20-plus points. He kept that alive despite shooting 1 of 7 from three-point range.

Nassir Little was a bright spot for the Trail Blazers as the second-year pro scored 18 points in 16 minutes off the bench. It was the second-highest point total of his career.

Enes Kanter had just six points, barely half his 11.7 average, but led all rebounders with 15. It was Kanter’s seventh game of the season with at least 15 boards.

look at the footwork! @eneskanter | #RipCity pic.twitter.com/fOZF5VqVoo

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 23, 2021

The bench played well in the first half as Rodney Hood had nine points and Carmelo Anthony scored eight. However, Hood went scoreless in the second half and Anthony managed just two points.

Murray on Fire for Nuggets

While the Nuggets just finished a losing trip, they have one of the hottest scorers in the league in Jamal Murray.

Murray had a team-high 30 points in Sunday’s loss. That came two nights after he poured in a career-high 50 in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Murray has scored at least 22 points in six consecutive games.

NEW CAREER-HIGH 50 PTS FOR JAMAL MURRAY 🏹 pic.twitter.com/587YdON05F

— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 20, 2021

Defense and rebounding were the problems for the Nuggets in Atlanta. They fell to 1-10 this season when allowing at least 119 points and are 21^st in the NBA in defensive rating. Denver also got beat on the boards 44-34.

Rookie Facundo Campazzo had 16 points off the bench as he continues to emerge as an offensive threat. It was the fifth straight game in double figures for the Argentinian after he reached that mark just three times in his first 22 games.

Nikola Jokic recorded his league-leading 27^th double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He is averaging 26.6 points and 11.1 boards and will start in the NBA All-Star Game.

2021 #NBAAllStar starter Nikola Jokic of the @nuggets in action! pic.twitter.com/JafdzundQk

— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 19, 2021

Will Barton and Monte Morris also had 15 points. Barton hit double digits for the fifth time in six games.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 10 points in the first quarter then was blanked the remainder of the evening.

Feels Like the First Time

The division rivals are meeting for the first time this season after the Nuggets took two of three from the Trail Blazers in 2019-20. Portland won the final game 125-115 on Aug. 6 at the Florida bubble as 4.5-point underdogs.

The Trail Blazers used the 3 ball to great effect, making 59.0% (23 of 39) of their shots from beyond the arc.

Lillard was 11 of 18 as he scored 45 points. The bulk of Gary Trent Jr.’s 27 points came on 7-of-10 shooting from long range.

Porter topped the Nuggets with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

While the Trail Blazers are not in what would normally be considered a good spot in playing the second of back-to-backs on the road, look for them at least keep it close against the scuffling Nuggets.

Pick: Trail Blazers +8 (-105)