The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets continue their home-and-home with a Christmas Day showdown in the desert.
The pregame narrative: Denver blew out Phoenix on its home court on Monday and I expect the Nuggets to at least cover an alt spread on Wednesday. Prop bets on Bradley Beal and Aaron Gordon round out this +325 same-game parlay.
Check out my Nuggets vs. Suns same-game parlay predictions for Dec. 25.
Nuggets vs. Suns predictions
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Parlay: Nuggets +5.5 + Gordon over 12.5 points + Beal over 19.5 points (+325)
Nuggets +5.5 (-335): The Suns better hope Devin Booker isn’t out for long.
The four-time All-Star has been pretty durable but the results haven’t been pretty when he’s sidelined.
- Since the start of last season, Phoenix is 6-9 without Booker.
- In those games, the Suns have an offensive rating of 113.9 (118.7 when he plays).
- Phoenix is 0-2 without Booker this year, losing to the Detroit Pistons and Nuggets.
Denver beat Phoenix by 27 points on Monday without Jamal Murray in the lineup. The Canadian guard might be back on Christmas but the Nuggets should cover this number even if he remains sidelined.
The Suns are 5-12 in their last 17 games and only two of those wins came against teams above .500.
Other SGP legs
Gordon over 12.5 points (-114): Gordon has been a remarkably consistent scorer for Denver over the last four seasons.
The high-flying power forward has put up between 13.9 and 16.3 PPG each year while never dipping below 52.0% shooting.
To be fair, I would hope his FG% stays around there because most of his damage gets done at the rim out of the dunker’s spot.
Phoenix allows the ninth-most paint points per game (49.6) and has the 10th-worst rim defence (67.1%), according to Cleaning the Glass.
Gordon has cleared this mark in five of his last eight and scored 12 points in 23 minutes in Monday’s blowout win over the Suns.
Beal over 19.5 points (-143): I backed Beal to score 20-plus on Monday and will run it back.
The shooting guard has been productive since returning from injury on Nov. 26.
- 19.1 PPG on 53.4% shooting
- 15+ points in 8/9 games
The Nuggets allow the third-most points per game to shooting guards, according to Fantasy Pros, and Beal dropped 23 against them on Monday.
His floor as a scorer is predictable and he should continue to take more shots with Booker sidelined.
Beal has cleared this number in six of his last seven games without Booker, including each of the last two.
Picks made at 11:00 a.m. on 12/24/24.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.