NBA Playoff Predictions For First-Round Series Between Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets
Aug 16, 2020, 9:24 PM | Updated: 9:24 pm
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – National media outlets from around the country have published their predictions for who will win the first-round NBA Playoffs series between the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets.
The No. 6 seed Jazz are scheduled to open the postseason against the No. 3 seed Nuggets on Monday, August 17.
Utah will begin the opening round without Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, Ed Davis, and Justin Wright-Foreman.
Denver swept the season series 3-0 against Utah.
The most recent meeting between the Northwest Divison teams was on August 8. The Jazz fell to the Nuggets 134-132 in double overtime.
Both the @UtahJazz and the Denver Nuggets tanked games to face one another in the first round.
But why did Denver want to face the Jazz?https://t.co/L5lpKQsLhQ
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 14, 2020
ESPN
Jerry Bembry: Nuggets in 5
Nick DePaula: Nuggets in 6
Nick Friedell: Nuggets in 7
Andrew Han: Nuggets in 6
Andrew Lopez: Nuggets in 5
Zach Lowe: Nuggets in 7
Tim MacMahon: Nuggets in 7
Bobby Marks: Nuggets in 7
Dave McMenamin: Nuggets in 5
Kevin Pelton: Nuggets in 7
Jorge Sedano: Nuggets in 6
Ramona Shelburne: Nuggets in 6
Andre’ Snellings: Nuggets in 6
Marc Spears: Nuggets in 7
Eric Woodyard: Jazz in 7
Royce Young: Nuggets in 7
Ohm Youngmisuk: Nuggets in 6
CBS Sports
Bill Reiter: Nuggets in 5
Sam Quinn: Nuggets in 5
Brad Botkin: Nuggets in 6
James Herbert: Nuggets in 7
Colin Ward-Henninger: Nuggets in 5
Jack Maloney: Nuggets in 6
Michael Kaskey-Blomain: Nuggets in 6
Jasmyn Wimbish: Nuggets in 6
USA Today
Matt Eppers: Nuggets in 6
Mark Medina: Jazz in 7
Heather Tucker: Nuggets in 5
Jeff Zillgitt: Nuggets in 6
Yahoo! Sports
Vincent Goodwill: Nuggets in 6
Ben Rohrbach: Nuggets in 6
Keith Smith: Nuggets in 5
Denver Post
Mike Singer: Nuggets in 6
Kyle Fredrickson: Nuggets in 7
Sean Keeler: Nuggets in 6
Mark Kiszla: Nuggets in 7
Matt Schubert: Nuggets in 6
Others
NBA.com‘s Michael C. Wright: Nuggets in 6
Sporting News‘ Jordan Greer: Nuggets in 6
The Athletic‘s John Hollinger: Nuggets in 6
“Donovan Mitchell is going to have to do it all.” 💪@steve21smith details why Mitchell has to play like a consistent superstar in order for Utah to advance to the Second Round. #GameTime pic.twitter.com/otgLoO5Gl6
— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 16, 2020
FiveThirtyEight’s Projection
Nuggets: 67 percent chance to win series
Jazz: 33 percent chance to win series
Out of the national reporters and media outlets listed above, the overwhelming favorite to win the first-round matchup was Denver.
The Jazz and Nuggets will tip-off Game 1 of the seven-game series on Monday, August 17 at 11:30 a.m. (MDT). The game will broadcast on ESPN, AT&T SportsNet, and 97.5 FM.