ASA top play on 10* Denver Nuggets -11.5 vs. Portland Trailblazers, 10 PM ET - We typically don’t lay big numbers in the NBA, but we will make an exception tonight with Denver. The Nuggets sat All-Star/MVP Jokic in their last game, a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he’s expected back tonight. The Blazers are coming off a huge upset over the Bucks the other night in Dame Lillards return to Portland and we expect them to letdown tonight. Portland has one of the worst road records in the NBA dating back to last season at 22-44 SU with an average differential of minus -7.5PPG. In that same time frame the Nuggets have the best home record in the league at 63-12 SU with the second-best average point differential of +9.7PPG. When we compare each teams recent spreads we find the Nuggets were favored by -8.5-points over the 76ers at home and even minus -10.5 against the Pacers in mid-January. Portland was just plus +10.5-points at home against the Bucks and were double-digit dogs at Houston, OKC and the Lakers. The Blazers are one of the poorest shooting teams in the league at 44% which ranks 29th and their 3PT% isn’t much better ranking 25th at 35.5%. Denver is a tough team to make shots against with the 9th best FG% defense and 13th best 3PT% D. Denver is going to have a much easier time scoring also with the 5th best shooting percentage in the NBA at 49.4% going up against a Blazer defense that allows 49.5% (26th). The advantage on the glass for Denver is also going to be an issue for Portland who rank 30th in defensive rebounds per game. With Denver off a loss and back at home, versus a young Portland team off a huge win, we will back the Nuggets and lay the points.