In Game 1 of their NBA Playoffs first round series, the Golden State Warriors demolished the Denver Nuggets. For Game 2, the Nuggets will look to get back into the series with a win, while the Warriors aim to take a 2-0 lead behind another dominant performance. In our NBA predictions for the first round of the playoffs, we take a look at Monday night’s Nuggets vs Warriors contest.
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Nuggets vs Warriors Game 2 Betting Pick
This game will be played at Chase Center at 10:00 PM ET on Monday, April 18, 2022.
Why Bet The Nuggets:
✅ In Game 1 of this series, the Nuggets did not have a third player step up behind Nikola Jokic and Will Barton. Aaron Gordon and Monte Morris did not do enough in the starting lineup to help keep things close, nor did Bones Hyland off the bench. In Game 2, one of those three players will help Jokic and Barton keep things more competitive.
✅ Golden State got a 9/13 shooting night from Jordan Poole in the first game of this series, with Poole leading all scorers with 30 points. Poole will likely be impactful again in Game 2, but his numbers will regress to a more normal output, especially in the shooting percentage department. That will help the Nuggets keep this game within a few possessions as well.
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✅ Expect the Nuggets to have a better shooting night in Game 2, as they were a miserable 11/35 from three-point range in the series opener. They will bring that number up, which will help them to stay in the second game of this series. They will cover the seven-point spread as a result of a more respectable shooting night.
Denver Nuggets
Everything that could go wrong for the Denver Nuggets did on Saturday night, when they lost by double figures to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their first round series. Denver led by a point after the first quarter, but were blown away in the second quarter and never found a way to recover. In this game, they will need a lot more out of their supporting cast behind Nikola Jokic to have a chance to win Game 2.
Jokic and Will Barton combined to score 49 points in Game 1 for the Nuggets, but the role players behind them did very little to keep the game competitive. Aaron Gordon was especially bad in Game 1, as he scored just eight points on 3/10 shooting. Denver will need a lot more out of him on the offensive end of the floor if they are going to have a chance at stealing a game on the road.
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors brought Steph Curry off the bench in Game 1 of this series against the Denver Nuggets. But they managed to get a Steph Curry-like performance out of Jordan Poole in the starting lineup. Poole went for 30 points and made nine of his 13 shots from the floor as the Warriors went on to beat the Nuggets by 16 points in the series opener on their home floor.
In this game, it will be interesting to see how the Warriors handle Curry in the second game of this series. If he starts again, the Warriors will look a lot like the version of the franchise that won multiple championships in the 2010s. But Curry’s injury concerns and the impending regression of Poole’s shooting could cause problems in what could be a much more competitive Game 2.