After a hard-fought loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Denver Nuggets will face an undermanned Utah Jazz team for the second straight night.

Can Denver bounce back and get back to .500 on Saturday?

Let's take a look at some NBA player props for Jazz vs. Nuggets with free NBA picks on Saturday, November 2nd.

Jazz vs Nuggets Prediction

My best choice
Under 222 (-110 at bet365)

My analysis

Without Jamaal Murray in the second half on Friday, the Denver Nuggets leaned on defense from Russell Westbrook and some timely offensive contributions from newly named starter Christian Braun to give the Timberwolves a real scare.

Minnesota's elite defense blew a 16-point lead and watched the Nuggets score at will and outplay their physical frontcourt on the glass without many rebounds from Nikola Jokic. Denver now sits 15th in rebound rate over the last five games, two spots behind the Utah Jazz, but we can expect the battle on the glass here to be an exciting one considering that These teams were both in the top five a year ago, when Utah finished third and Denver fifth.

The Jazz will play this game without Taylor Hendricks and Lauri Markkanen at forward, but they will still have one of the league's most feared men on the boards in Walker Kessler to do the heavy lifting and also have rookie Kyle Filipowski on the board Markkanen did a good job despite the team's 0-5 record.

This game should be all about shooting, with a tight battle on the boards meaning there are few offensive rebounds for either side. According to Cleaning the Glass, Utah ranks first in the league when it comes to limiting looks at the rim, which should force Denver's guards into action – which has rarely been the case as it ranks in the top 5 in shooting frequency on edge lies.

Both defenses allowed most of their offense from either mid-range or three-point range, and while Utah really struggled to score from every shooting zone, it was strongest in the mid-range range.

The Nuggets' perimeter defense faltered against Minnesota, allowing over 43% of shots from distance, with Murray's injury putting a damper on their plans. In reality, it was Minnesota's complementary players who tied the score, as the Nuggets double-teamed Anthony Edwards all night long and forced other players to beat them.

Filipowski and Brice Sensabaugh have been great in limited selections, but without Markkanen, this team doesn't have much of a chance to keep up with shooting the ball against a pretty solid Nuggets defense. With Utah stealing rebounds and benefiting from a weakened Nuggets offense due to fatigue and Murray's injury, this game should be very low scoring.

Jazz vs. Nuggets, same game play

Under 222

Kyle Filipowski Over 9.5 points

Walker Kessler Over 9.5 rebounds

While the Nuggets should hold off the Jazz shooters here considering their top option – shooting over 45% from deep to begin with – is gone, I like to see Markkanen's replacement enjoying a nice night.

Denver's perimeter defense certainly didn't look elite on Friday, and you can count on Filipowski to score for Utah here too. He played around 22 minutes per game in the last two games with Markkanen out, scoring 12 points in each and going 4-for-9 from 3 overall.

Meanwhile, Jokic was surprisingly ineffective on the glass against Minnesota, and Kessler has led the way with a little more volume this year. The young Jazz center has recorded double-digit rebounds in three of his last five games, and I expect him to play a lot as the Jazz look to neutralize Jokic's offense.

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Jazz vs Nuggets odds

Jazz vs Nuggets live odds

Jazz vs. Nuggets opening odds

• Spread: Utah +9.5 (-110) | Denver -9.5 (-110)
• Money line: Utah (+375) | Denver (-500)
• Over/Under: Over 217.5 (-105) | Below 217.5 (-115)

Odds courtesy of bet365

Jazz vs. Nuggets spread and over/under analysis

• This line went in the Nuggets' favor and briefly reached 11 points before leveling off somewhat at the current number of 10.5.
• The total quickly rose to 218 and then rose sharply to 220 when it looked like Murray would miss that hit. It was only resurrected from this brand.

Jazz vs. Nuggets trend

Denver has scored under in 45 of its last 78 games (+9.85 units / 11% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Jazz vs. Nuggets.

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