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NBA Series Picks: DraftKings Sportsbook Odds, Basketball Best Bets, Predictions for Nuggets vs. Warriors

Julian Edlow provides NBA betting analysis and a best bet on DraftKings Sportsbook for a first-round series between the Nuggets and Warriors.

Golden State Warriors v Denver Nuggets Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Follow along on Twitter (@julianedlow) for any potential updates — things can always change with lineup moves leading up to tipoff. Here’s what jumps out to me on DraftKings Sportsbook.

All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.

As usual, I’ll put everything official up on Twitter that I bet on personally. This is a betting guide for this NBA card, and anything I’ve actually bet will include a unit amount.


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Best Bet

Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors

Series Spread: GSW -1.5 Games (-105)

2-units

This is a really interesting series, as the spotlight is on Stephen Curry. We haven’t seen Steph since mid-March, and while his Game 1 status remains up in the air as of Tuesday afternoon, he will be returning to practice this week. Maybe he will miss a game or two of this series, maybe he won’t, but Curry will be back soon. Regardless, Golden State is undervalued without the former MVP, especially with the way Klay Thompson is finding his form.

But unless Denver somehow found its way into a really favorable first-round situation, this was a team I’ve been looking to fade in the postseason. Nikola Jokic should runaway with the MVP award, deservingly going back-to-back. This team has nothing beyond Joker, though. The teams of the past that made postseason runs had Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. playing at an All-Star level. This team provides Jokic with very little help, and that’s not going to fly against a Golden State team that’s deeper and will eventually get Steph back in the mix.

Denver won the earlier meetings this season, but they were playing much better at the time. Draymond Green played in none of those three losses, and Thompson played in just one. The Warriors actually kept the third game within seven points playing without almost all their starters. Then when both teams finally met at full strength, the Warriors won by double-digits on the road in the most recent head to head. The Nuggets are going to need 40-15-15 type of games from Jokic to win, and while he may be good for one or two, the Nuggets don’t have nearly enough talent around him to win this series.

I like the Warriors to get this done in five games, but the 1.5-game spread gives us a cushion here to get it done in six or less.


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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.


The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.


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