Denver Nuggets vs Brooklyn Nets Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 01/04/26

Life continues for Denver without Nikola Jokic, but also Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, Jonas Valanciunas and potentially even Jamal Murray who is the latest addition to the injury report with an ankle problem. They face a gritty Nets team, hoping to improve on a record of just 1 win in 4 games. Brooklyn’s defense has been tough to penetrate over the past couple of weeks, with so many players out the Nuggets could run into issues here on the offensive end. In the 2 games without their best player they’ve put up just 106 and 108 points vs Toronto and Cleveland, that was with Murray at their disposal. Without him I feel like it could be a long night.

I’ve praised the Nets defense in the past, but they’ve slipped a little over the last 3 games allowing 120, 120 and 119 vs Golden State, Houston and Washington. It was obvious that level of intensity on the defensive end wasn’t sustainable in the long run, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed with their approach in the loss to Washington the other day. Perhaps things can get better on Sunday as Michael Porter Jr. supposedly returns to the line-up. The former Nugget has missed the last 2 games, but has been listed as probable for this one as he recovers from an illness.

The Nets don’t mostly rely on defense to win games, they’ve put up less than 100 points in back-to-back games. Meanwhile, Denver is really struggling to find enough healthy bodies at the moment, The 5 players I listed that are out for this team average a combined 93.2 points per game. Do not expect a ton of points in this game. Go for the under.

Denver Nuggets vs Brooklyn Nets Predictions: Under 220.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.