Suns vs. Nuggets Odds, Game 4 Preview, Picks, & Prediction
Suns vs. Nuggets Game 4 Odds
| Suns Odds | -3.5 |
| Nuggets Odds | +3.5 |
| Moneyline | -161/+135 |
| Over/Under | 222.5 |
| Time | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| Where | Denver, CO |
| TV | TNT |
| Odds accurate as of Sunday at BetMGM | |
| Click Here to Bet $20 on Any NBA Playoff Game & Win $100 Regardless of Outcome! | |
Suns vs. Nuggets Game 4 Preview
The Phoenix Suns have played phenomenal basketball for almost the entirety of the 2020-’21 NBA season. They finished with the second-best regular season record in the league at 51-21, and now find themselves one game away from the Western Conference Finals. Behind their superstar backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, as well as one of the strongest supporting casts in the postseason, they look poised to finish the sweep in enemy territory.
Denver has looked utterly flabbergasted by the barrage of high-quality team offense Monty Williams’ Suns offense puts on the floor every night. The combination of Williams’ coaching, Paul’s leadership as floor general, and Booker as elite scorer has been too much for MVP Nikola Jokic and his gang.
Jokic deserves tremendous kudos for taking his Nuggets team to the semifinals, considering they would probably be a lottery team without him as currently constituted. With injuries rearing their ugly head all year, highlighted by 2020 Bubble All-Star Jamal Murray and now also including swing scorer “(player-popup #michael-porter-jr)Michael Porter Jr, Denver coach Mike Malone must be at wit’s end.
Phoenix, on the other hand, has enjoyed good health and incredible team chemistry. Their starting five has spent more time on the floor at the same time than any other starting rotation in the NBA. Booker has dominated the first three quarters nearly the entire postseason, and CP3 remains the greatest late-game manager in hoops.
That backcourt duo has enjoyed contributions from all sorts of different roster pieces. Cameron Payne has been very good off the bench. Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder are two of the best three-and-D guys in the playoffs. Deandre Ayton has been superb around the rim, and his board-banging has stupefied an obviously-exhausted Jokic.
On the other side of the floor, Jokic is trying to make mountains out of mole hills. Aaron Gordon has been abysmal almost the whole postseason. Paul Millsap has been a shell of his former All-Star self. MPJ, suffering from nagging back pain, has struggled mightily in the role of postseason No. 2 scorer. Monte Morris has shown moments of brilliance, but he’s still not 100 percent due to injuries of his own. Jokic and Malone are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
And Williams’ Suns squad is the worst possible opponent—besides maybe the top-seeded Jazz—for the Nugs. Phoenix can expose a team’s weaknesses with its high-quality team play on both sides of the court, and it can exacerbate issues by continually pounding weaker opponents until submission.
Jokic looks tired and dejected, as evidenced his his technical foul midway through the fourth quarter of Game 3. He’s all out of options, as he has simply had too little help. His backcourt has been heinous from the field. His playmakers are too sloppy with the ball. His rebounding support has been nonexistent.
Suns vs. Nuggets Game 4 Picks & Predictions
It’s a little boring to pick the team with the semifinals lead 3-0, but I couldn’t possibly pick against Phoenix with momentum. At best, you hit the Suns’ moneyline when they finish the sweep. At worst, you lose but double down in Game 5 back in Arizona. Because, while I may not be 100 percent confident this will be a sweep, I am 99 percent sure Denver can’t win back-to-back games on the brink of elimination, never mind on Phoenix’s home court.
Denver did enjoy a bit of a home-court advantage in the Mile High City, losing just 13 of its 40 home games this season. However, that was in the regular season, before the entire fan base felt the wrath of the Suns (should we call it Sun poisoning?). Also, it should be noted that Phoenix’s road record this season was 27-13, the same record that Denver enjoyed at home.
Thus, I’m thinking CP3 and his team call “Game, Set, Match” Sunday, and sit back and wait to see who their Western Conference Finals opponent will be. Just what the hottest and healthiest team needs in the postseason—an extra week’s rest.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Suns 113-107
Image Credit: Imagn