The Charlotte Hornets (39-36) host the Denver Nuggets (44-31) Monday at the Spectrum Center for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off. Below, we look at the Nuggets vs. Hornets odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
Denver is 4-3 straight up (SU) and 3-4 against the spread (ATS) over the past two weeks with the latest being a 113-107 win at home versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the Nuggets failed to cover as 17.5-point favorites.
Charlotte has won 7 of the last 8 games (6-2 ATS) including back-to-back victories versus the Utah Jazz Friday (107-101) and at the Brooklyn Nets Sunday (119-110).
The Hornets beat the Nuggets 115-107 in Denver Dec. 23. Charlotte outscored Denver 38-13 and outperformed it in all “four factors”. Nuggets big Nikola Jokic scored a game-high 29 points but hit just 13-of-34 shots.
Nuggets at Hornets odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:20 a.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Nuggets -180 (bet $180 to win $100) | Hornets +145 (bet $100 to win $145)
- Against the spread: Nuggets -4.5 (-105) | Hornets +4.5 (-120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 232.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
Nuggets at Hornets key injuries
Nuggets
- PG Jamal Murray (knee) out
- PF Michael Porter Jr. (back) out
Hornets
- SF Gordon Hayward (ankle) out
[tipico]
Nuggets at Hornets odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Nuggets 120, Hornets 115
Money line
PASS because I’d rather lay the points with Denver than bet an expensive Nuggets (-175) ML even though they are 12-5 SU as road favorites.
But, the Hornets are just 1-12 SU with a minus-6.6 adjusted net rating (ranked 25th), according to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG).
Furthermore, the Nuggets stomp bad defenses and the Hornets are 20th in adjusted defensive rating. Denver is 20-3 SU versus bottom-10 defenses with the second-best adjusted net rating (plus-11.2), per CTG.
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Against the spread
BET the NUGGETS -4.5 (-105) for 1 unit.
The Hornets +4.5 (-120) are an NBA-worst 3-10 ATS on the second of a back-to-back with a minus-2.2 ATS margin and the Nuggets have the BEST ATS margin versus bottom-10 defenses (plus-6.2), per CTG.
Also, Denver held a 17-point entering the fourth quarter of the December 23rd Hornets-Nuggets meeting and should’ve cruised to victory over Charlotte.
The Nuggets will be motivated by this embarrassing ending, and because they are only 1 game in front of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the sixth and final non-play-in seed.
Finally, this is a profitable spot for Denver, who is 7-3 ATS as 3-to-4.5-point favorites and 11-8-1 ATS on the road versus teams with a winning record.
The NUGGETS -4.5 (-105) is my favorite wager in this game.
Over/Under
LEAN to the OVER 232.5 (-115) because Denver’s offense has shot it well lately, and Charlotte’s defense struggles on zero rest days.
For instance, the Nuggets are hitting 50.8% of their shots over the past seven games (38.4% from behind the arc), and the Hornets have the third-WORST adjusted defensive rating in the second of a back-to-back, per CTG.
However, I prefer Denver’s spread more than the total hence the LEAN to the OVER 232.5 (-115).
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