Denver at Portland

Denver goes for the sweep against the Blazers and they want this one as it secures the Northwest Division crown. Portland should oblige as they have now lost 13 of their last 14 games and have packed it in. They have covered the spread just once in the last eight games. They are the worst team in the Association. They are averaging 88.7 points per game (lowest) while Denver is pouring in 104.4 per game over their last five games. Denver's defense has picked up a bit of late and I think Portland will really struggle to score here with low motivation. Games with a total is 200 to 209.5 featuring a cold losing home team that has failed to cover the spread in 8 or more of their last 10, with a losing record have gone under the total 37 out of 53 times (70%) since 1996. Portland has gone under 23 times out of 33 when facing a winning team this season. Portland games have gone over the last two but they are 11-3 under following 2 overs this year. They are also 11-2 under after allowing 100+ points two games in a row. Portland knows they have no shot at all in a shootout with Denver so the little effort they exert tonight will be on the defensive end. Like the motivated Nuggets here as well as the under.