The nightcap of Saturday’s four-pack of first round playoff games will see two familiar foes meet, as the Nuggets welcome the Blazers to Ball Arena in Denver. These two faced off in a thrilling seven-game series back in 2019, which Portland emerged with a win, and despite being the 6-seed they enter this series as the slight favorites over Denver.
There are a few reasons for that, including the health of the two teams. Denver is down a significant chunk of their backcourt coming into the series, with Jamal Murray, Will Barton, and PJ Dozier all out for Game 1, with the possibility that Barton returns later in the series. Still, they have the presumptive MVP in Nikola Jokic and a legit lethal scorer in Michael Porter Jr. who figure to give Portland all they can handle on the offensive end. The Blazers have gotten healthy at the right time, most notably with Jusuf Nurkic returning to anchor an improving defense. Their newly formed backcourt trio of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and the trade deadline acquisition Norman Powell has given opponents fits in the second half of the season and after rattling off a 10-2 closing stretch, the Blazers enter this postseason on quite the heater.
Game 1 TV Info
Tip Time: Saturday, May 22; 10:30 p.m. ET
TV Network: ESPN
Game 1 Betting Lines (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
Series Prices: Blazers (-122), Nuggets (-103)
Spread: Nuggets -1 (-110), Blazers +1 (-110)
Total: Over 227.5 (-112), Under 227.5 (-109)
Money Line: Nuggets (-115), Blazers (-104)
Game 1 Player Scoring Props (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
Norman Powell O/U 17.5 Points (Over -118/Under -108)
Jusuf Nurkic O/U 14.5 Points (-113/-113)
Michael Porter Jr. O/U 23.5 Points (-120/-107)
CJ McCollum O/U 22.5 Points (-120/-107)
Robert Covington O/U 7.5 Points (-115/-105)
Damian Lillard O/U 28.5 Points (-115/-105)
Nikola Jokic O/U 28.5 Points (-143/+112)