Who Will Score More Points, Damian Lillard or Nikola Jokic?

The Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets are set to square off in Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series. The Blazers handled the Nuggets in Game 1, beating them 132-116 in Denver. The Blazers are now sizable -348 favorites to win the series.

Despite the lopsided result in Game 1, Damian Lillard and Nikola Jokic matched each other’s point total, as both players managed to put up 34. Lillard also dished out 13 assists, and Jokic ended the game with 16 rebounds.

Which of these two players will score more points in Game 2? WynnBET projects that they’ll have similar totals again tonight, as they have Lillard’s point total set at 29.5 with the over set as the +100 underdog, and they have Jokic’s point total set at 30.5 with the odds being -110 on either side.

If the Nuggets want to have any chance of winning Game 2 to even up the series, Jokic will have to repeat his Game 1 performance while also getting more help from his supporting cast.

It’s surprising to see the point total for both players to be set higher than their season average. Lillard is averaged 28.8 points per game during the regular season, and Jokic is averaged 26.4.

Despite Jokic averaging fewer points this season while also having a higher point total set for tonight’s game, I think the over on the Joker’s point total is the bet to make. With Jamal Murray out of the lineup, the majority of the points for the Nuggets have to go through Jokic.

Denver’s starting guards, Austin Rivers and Facuno Campazzo, combined for just 14 points in Game 1. Unless those two players decide to step it up in Game 2, expect Jokic to carry the load once again.

Meanwhile, Damian Lillard has a stronger supporting cast that can help with the workload against the Nuggets. Between Norman Powell, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, and even Carmelo Anthony coming off the bench, there’s plenty of mouths to feed in Portland.

Furthermore, Lillard hadn’t scored more than 25 points against the Nuggets in their three regular season meetings. I’ll take the under on his point total tonight.

WynnBET has the Nuggets set as slight 1.5-point favorites and the total is set at 227.