We’re into the second day of the 2022-23 NBA season and there’s plenty more to pick and choose from on Wednesday night’s slate. The Denver Nuggets will take on division rival Utah Jazz in their opener at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Let’s take a look at the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook and make some picks.
Nuggets vs. Jazz, 9 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Nuggets -7
We were fully prepared to back the Jazz but this spread isn’t as favorable as expected. The Jazz really aren’t going to be THAT bad. They lost Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert but added a ton of depth in the form of Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and rookie Ochai Agbaji. The backcourt is very deep with Sexton, Beasley, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson. If nothing else, the Jazz will be able to fill it up.
As for the Nuggets, they feel like a team who could underperform. Yes, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are back. Those two will take some time to get back up to speed after missing basically all of last season (even more time for Murray). Reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic needs to stop carrying this team at some point, but when? We want to see how Murray and MPJ look before backing the Nuggets too heavily.
Really, I love looking at an in-game bet in this game. We’ll be able to get a good look at Murray and MPJ early on. The spread shouldn’t trend too heavily in favor of Denver. Perhaps we can get a better line on the Jazz and hope for a backdoor cover late in the game.
Over/Under: Under 225
There are a lot of question marks and this total is super high. If the Nuggets are 100%, they should be better defensively. While the Jazz have a lot of quality guard play, it’s also streaky guard play. We also have to take into account chemistry and a new head coach in Will Hardy. So don’t be surprised if Utah struggles a bit against a veteran Denver squad. I think we see more of a sluggish start from both teams and this goes under.