Nuggets vs. Clippers Prediction, Odds, Players to Watch for NBA Summer League

Betting odds, pick and prediction for the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Clippers matchup in Summer League.

Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones is a player to watch on Thursday. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets have yet to win a game in the Las Vegas Summer League, but they have a chance to do so against the 3-0 Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.

The Clippers have knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets to put themselves amongst the best teams in Las Vegas this offseason.

The Clippers and Nuggets matched up in the first round of the playoffs last season, and both teams are likely more about winning a title than development entering the 2025-26 season.

Still, oddsmakers are buying the Clippers as favorites in this matchup, even though Denver covered as a huge underdog on Tuesday against Toronto. 

 Here’s a breakdown of the odds, players to watch in this game and my prediction. 

Nuggets vs. Clippers Odds, Spread and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Spread

• Nuggets +9.5 (-110)
• Clippers -9.5 (-110)

Moneyline

• Nuggets: +380
• Clippers: -500

Total

• 181.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

Nuggets vs. Clippers How to Watch

• Date: Thursday, July 17
• Time: 11:00 p.m. EST
• Venue: Thomas & Mack Center
• How to Watch (TV): ESPN2
• Nuggets record: 0-3
• Clippers record: 3-0

Nuggets vs. Clippers Key Players to Watch

Denver Nuggets

• Spencer Jones

The Stanford product spent the 2024-25 season on a two-way deal with Denver, and he’s coming off a strong showing against Toronto (13 points, nine in the fourth quarter) on Tuesday.

Overall, Jones is averaging 11.0 points per game while shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Nuggets would love to see even more growth from Jones entering the 2025–26 season. 

Los Angeles Clippers

• Cam Christie

A second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Christie is averaging 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 35.0 percent from 3.

Christie didn’t crack the Clippers’ rotation in the 2024-25 season, but he may have a chance to do so with the Clippers moving on from Norman Powell this offseason. Christie should be one of the leading offensive producers for L.A. on Thursday. 

Nuggets vs. Clippers Prediction and Pick

Note: Before betting on NBA Summer League, it’s important to know that rotations are fluid and predicting player performance is volatile. As an avid NBA bettor, I suggest only placing small wagers for fun on these games since they are often hard to predict.

The Clippers are undefeated this summer, but the Nuggets showed in their last game that asking them to cover a spread of this magnitude is very possible.

Denver was able to cover – and nearly won – as a 9.5-point underdog against the undefeated Toronto Raptors, and I expect the Nuggets to do the same on Thursday night.

In a Summer League game where there is a ton of variance between rotations, game-to-game performance and talent, I can’t lay double digits with almost any team.

As for the Clippers, they have two wins by less than 10 points, and they scored just 67 points in a win over the Lakers earlier this week. I think Denver can at least hang around in Thursday’s matchup. 

Pick: Nuggets +9.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on  BetStamp here.

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