Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Prediction, Odds and Best NBA Prop Bets for Monday, Nov. 2

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have a key Western Conference matchup on Monday night, as they’ll take on Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers with all 30 teams in the league in action.

Portland comes into this game a little short-handed after a fast start to the campaign that has included an upset over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ja Morant is sidelined for the next several weeks for Portland, but it has the guard depth to replace him with former lottery pick Scoot Henderson and veteran Jrue Holiday.

Portland is off to an impressive 4-1 start, but it’s set as an underdog on Monday night in Denver.

The Nuggets have been one of the best home teams in the league in the Jokic era, and they’ve won back-to-back games to get over .500 this season. Denver has a much thinner bench this season than even last year, but it still has one of the best starting lineups in the league.

Denver is just 2-3 against the spread, and it sits in the bottom half of the league in net rating through two weeks.

Let’s examine the odds, a player prop to bet and my prediction for Monday night’s showdown.

Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Odds, Spread and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

Blazers +4.5 (-112)
Nuggets -4.5 (-108)

Moneyline

Blazers: +146
Nuggets: -174

Total

231.5 (Over -105/Under -115)

Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets How to Watch

Date: Monday, Nov. 2
Time: 9:00 p.m. EST
Venue: Ball Arena
How to Watch (TV): Altitude, BlazerVision, KUNP 16, NBA League Pass
Blazers record: 4-1
Nuggets record: 3-2

Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Injury Reports

Blazers Injury Report

Ja Morant – out
Jayson Kent – out
Shaedon Sharpe – out
John Tonje – out

Nuggets Injury Report

Alpha Diallo – questionable
Julian Strawther – out
Spencer Jones – out

Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Best NBA Prop Bet

Blazers Best NBA Prop Bet

Damian Lillard 3+ 3-Pointers Made (-191)

In today’s edition of our best NBA props for SI Betting, I shared why Damian Lillard is a great prop target against Denver:

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is back from an Achilles injury this season, and while he’s shooting just 38.9 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from 3, I’m targeting him in the prop market against the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

Lillard should remain in a lead role with Ja Morant sidelined with an injury, and the Nuggets have struggled to defend the 3-ball, ranking 19th in opponent 3s made per game and 15th in opponent 3-point percentage.

Through five games, Lillard has attempted 47 shots from deep, taking at least eight 3-pointers in every game. Dame has made three or more shots from beyond the arc on three occasions, playing 29.0 minutes per game.

I’ll gladly move this line down to 3+ for Lillard against this shaky Denver defense.

Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets Prediction and Pick

Portland is fifth in the league in net rating this season, though it hasn’t exactly faced a murderer’s row to open the 2026-27 campaign.

That being said, I don’t mind the Blazers as underdogs with this spread outside of a possession on Monday.

Even with Morant out, Portland has a lot of dynamic guards and wings, and it should be able to hold up defensively against a Denver team that is pretty thin with Spence Jones and Julian Strawther out. Neither of those players are complete game changers, but the Nuggets have let quite a few rotation players walk out the door since their title in the 2022-23 season.

Meanwhile, Portland has covered the spread in the majority of its games, including a road win over the Lakers, and it has a far better net rating than Denver (19th in the league).

The Nuggets have two wins over New Orleans (one in overtime) and a win over Phoenix this season while they’ve lost badly to Golden State and OKC. I not trusting this team and an automatic Finals contender after last season’s first-round exit in the playoffs.

I’ll take the points with a Blazers team off to a strong start in the 2026-27 season.

Pick: Blazers +4.5 (-112 at DraftKings)

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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