Denver has been rolling and deserves to be the favorite. The Nuggets won the first matchup this season convincingly, but the Suns were without Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Booker again won’t be available, but Beal will play. He’s scored 30 or more points in three of his last seven games. Too many points for Denver to give, I’ll take the underdog.

This is all about Devin Booker's absence. Bradley Beal averages almost six three-point attempts without Booker. He's also seen a much higher average the last month as well as a higher road average. Guards averaging 1.2-1.6 3PT are 13-9 to this over at Denver

Denver is flexing its playoff muscles on the other side of the AS break and the Suns are missing several key defenders and I project 120 for Denver tonight. They are over this in 5 of their last 6 games and scored 119 at Phoenix in their prior meeting. The Suns, without Devin Booker, have allowed 118 in two straight games. The champs are also finding their legs while others wilt. Denver is 27th in pace for the season, but 14th over the last 5 games. They have 8th-best offensive rating for the season, but 3rd rated in the NBA over the last 5 games. I like their recent form to continue here.

The Nuggets offense has started to soar post AS break and Porter Jr is a big part of that ascent. He's averaging over 20 PPH over the last 10 games, and also cleaning up on the boards. The Suns defense is sagging a bit lately even despite playing some less-than-stellar opposition and Denver is starting to run it up at home. Ports Jr put up 10 boards and 19 points in their first meeting, and he is well over this total in 5 of the last 7 games (29, 35, 41, 19, 16, 46, 33). He's also 19/39 from three-point land since the AS break. Suns are 23rd in opponent rebounds since the AS break and 21st in points allowed/game since the AS break. I