Utah in Position to Finish Off Porous Denver in Game 5

The Denver Nuggets finally got a statement game on offense – and it still wasn’t enough to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination. Denver will look for answers on the defensive end of the floor as it hopes to stay alive in its best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series, while the Utah Jazz are focused on finishing off the higher-seeded Nuggets on Tuesday.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Utah was installed as a 4-point favorite to open the betting but is down to -3 at the majority of sportsbooks. The total has seen significant movement, Sportsbook at 217.5 but rising all the way to 220.5 in most spots.

Utah News & Notes

Donovan Mitchell has never scored more than 46 points in a regular-season game over his NBA career – but the Jazz phenom already has two 50-point efforts in this series, and that has played a major role in Utah taking a 3-1 series lead. Mitchell is averaging an absurd 39.5 points through four games, and the OVER is a must-play on whatever point prop he gets Tuesday.

But not all is right with the Jazz, at least in terms of what transpired in Game 4. Utah was fortunate to escape with the victory after taking 27 fewer shots than the Nuggets. That disparity was largely due to offensive rebounds (Denver finished with a 17-6 edge) and turnovers (Utah had 10 while Denver had just six); the Jazz will want to address those issues in Game 4.

Denver News & Notes

The Nuggets must be wondering what else they can do to get back into this series. They were monsters on the offensive glass, took immaculate care of the basketball and even got a 50-point eruption from point guard Jamal Murray, who knocked down nine treys in defeat. We’re less confident here than with Mitchell, but the OVER on Murray’s Game 5 point prop is still a solid play.

The issue with Denver, as it has been all series, lies with the defense (or in this case, the lack thereof). The Jazz have scored at least 124 points in each of the first four games and were at their dead-eye best in the Game 4 triumph, shooting a blistering 57.9 percent from the field while knocking down 14 of their 29 attempts from beyond the arc (48.3%).

Betting Pick: Jazz -3 (-110)

The Nuggets have yet to prove they can slow down a Utah team shooting better than 51 percent from the floor. And it won’t matter what Denver does offensively if that trend continues Tuesday. We’re betting it will.