Suns vs. Nuggets: NBA odds, Picks and Predictions
Suns vs. Nuggets Odds
| Suns Odds | +4 |
| Nuggets Odds | -4 |
| Over/Under | 230 |
| Date | Sun, Dec. 25 |
| Time | 10:30 p.m. |
| TV | ABC |
To conclude the NBA’s five-game Christmas Day slate of action, the Phoenix Suns will travel to the altitude to play the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Entering play, the Nuggets are tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the top spot in the Western Conference standings. At 19-14, the Suns currently occupy the fourth seed, and are two games behind the Nuggets. On Sunday, oddsmakers are expecting a tightly-contested affair between these two teams, pricing Denver as 4-point home favorites on the spread.
Phoenix Suns
Per Adrian Wojnarowski, Devin Booker is expected to return to the floor this evening for Phoenix after having missed each of the team’s previous three contests. In three games without Booker, the Suns went 1-2, including back-to-back home losses to the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies. Per Cleaning the Glass, Phoenix ranks in the 98th percentile in offensive efficiency and the 28th percentile in defensive efficiency when Booker is on the floor this year, compared to the 8th percentile in offensive efficiency and the 83rd percentile in defensive efficiency when Booker is on the sidelines.
In Booker’s last 13 games, Phoenix is 9-4. From November 20 to December 17, the Suns ranked 10th in the NBA in Net Rating, outscoring their opponents by 3.2 points per 100 possessions. In that span, Phoenix ranked in the top-nine in the league in both three-point attempts and three-point percentage, with their main offensive weakness being the fact that they almost never get to the charity stripe. Defensively, expect the Suns to continue running their opponent off of the three-point line, forcing them to make shots inside-the-arc.
Denver Nuggets
Ahead of tip-off on Christmas, Denver has won six of their last seven contests, with their lone loss in that span being an 18-point road defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. In those eight games, the Nuggets rank 7th in the NBA in offensive efficiency, scoring 116.8 points per 100 possessions. Unlike the Suns, the Nuggets prefer to create open looks from inside-the-arc, ranking 30th in three-point attempts during their recent hot streak.
On the defensive end of the floor, Denver allows more three-pointers than the league average team, but they defend the perimeter at a high-level, ranking 9th in opponent three-point percentage since December 8. In that span, they have also done a superb job defending without fouling, allowing the sixth-fewest free-throw attempts per game of any team in the league.
Phoenix Suns vs. Denver Nuggets – Picks & Predictions
If there is one major Denver weakness of which bettors should be aware of, it is that they struggle to limit effective ball movement against strong passing teams, ranking 26th on the season in opponent assists per game. Tonight, the Nuggets will need to contend with a Phoenix offense that ranks 6th in the league in assists per game this year. The Suns may find it difficult to pull off an upset on Christmas, but they should be able to keep this game close into the closing minutes – take them to cover the spread in this spot.
PICK: Suns +4 (-110, DraftKings)
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