This is a 10* TOP NBA SIDE PLAY FOR SATURDAY on the Blazers.

Portland played well down the stretch, winning ten of its last 12 games.

Damian Lillard is a force to be reckoned with, as he averaged 28.8 PPG, while CJ McCollum added 23.1. Jusuf Nurkic will be key in trying to slow down Nuggets MVP leading candidate Nikola Jokic.

Denver won nine of its final 13 games to secure the third seed in the Western Conference. Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 boards and 8.3 assists per game.

Portland though has performed well in this spot for bettors, going 5-1 ATS in its last six as a dog and 6-2 ATS in its last eight against teams with winning reords.

Denver though has struggled in this position, going just 1-6 ATS in its last seven when playing with three or more days rest, and only 1-4 ATS in its last five against teams with winning records.

Jokic is lined up for a big night, but the combination of Lillard and McCollum is going to be just too much for Denver to handle in Game 1 in my opinion, without its best guard Jamal Murray in the lineup to counter.

In what should be a tight game, I'm grabbing the points.

The play is PORTLAND.

Good luck, NP