Nuggets v Spurs 

Vegas Favorite – Spurs (-4.0), O/U – 216.0

The number one team in the Western Conference, the 21-10 Denver Nuggets, will be traveling tonight to take on the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are 18-16 so far this season which places them 4.5 games behind the Nuggets, but they have been a very good team at home this season with a 13-5 home record compared to a road record of 5-11. While the Nuggets have an overall winning record while on the road this season, they have shown some signs of faltering recently with their last three road games ending in losses. Given that the Spurs have the highest 3 point percentage out of the entire league this season with 40.3% of attempts made, the Nuggets will need to continue their trend of holding their opponent to just 32.4% of shots beyond the three. For San Antonio to come out ahead, the Spurs need to attempt to step up their points in the paint. So far this year they have scored the 5th fewest points in the paint throughout the entire league while the Nuggets are the polar opposite with the 5th highest paint points per game. The Nuggets will have to avoid a slow start similar to the one they had in their last loss, continue their strong defensive performance and play hard and fast through all 4 quarters if they want their road losing streak to end tonight. 

Players to Watch 

Jamal Murray (DEN) – ($7,800/32.18 FPPG)

Season Averages – 17.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG 

Jamal Murray has been on a hot streak lately, shooting above 50% in four of his last five games. His recent performances also included a career high 15 assists, along with 7 rebounds and 22 points for a total of 53.9 fantasy points while playing for 39 minutes in Denver’s recent victory over the Mavericks. Throughout this month, with one 13.7 FP exception, Murray has had a decent fantasy showing with an average 35.9 FP across the 9 games the Nuggets have played in December. Tonight against the Spurs, fantasy players will be hoping for him to continue his high shooting accuracy as well as picking up assists and rebounds to help out their lineups. 

DeMar DeRozan (SAN) – ($8,700/40.93 FPPG)

Season Averages – 23.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 6.3 APG 

Despite scoring only 12 points in last week’s victory against the Timberwolves, DeRozan rebounded in a big way in San Antonio’s loss to the Rockets on Saturday where he scored 28 points and put up 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. This game mirrored his overall performance this December with him averaging 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists across 12 games so far this month. Due to his efforts he has been a great asset for the most part to fantasy players recently, scoring above 40 FP in almost half of San Antonio’s matchups this month including two games above 50 FP and one above 60 FP. As DeRozan looks to continues on this trend tonight against the Nuggets, fantasy players will be wise to consider him for their rosters.