Nikola Jokic vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the second round of the NBA playoffs?
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The Denver Nuggets advanced to the second round on Saturday night, dominating the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 to set up a matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder-Nuggets series features the two favorites to win the league’s MVP award this season, although oddsmakers have the Thunder heavily favored to win the series (-700 at DraftKings).
Denver entered Game 7 against Los Angeles with +5000 odds to win the Finals — which were worse. than the Clippers at the time — but it has made a major step forward in that market.
The Nuggets are now +3500 at DraftKings to win the title for the second time in three seasons, even though oddsmakers don’t seem to think they’ll make it out of the second round. However, this Denver team has shown that it cannot be counted out with Jokic and Jamal Murray on the floor.
Meanwhile. OKC is +130 to win the NBA Finals and has been on a long layoff after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. While Denver’s title odds did jump, the Nuggets are still facing an uphill battle in this series, and they have the second-worst odds of the team’s remaining in the West (only Houston at +5500 is worse).
During the regular season, Denver went 2-2 against OKC and won the last meeting between these teams back on March 10.
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