Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets continued their dominant start to the 2025-26 season on Saturday night, knocking off the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota to move to 10-2.
Denver has won seven games in a row, and it’s a perfect 6-0 at home heading into Monday’s meeting with the Chicago Bulls, who are 6-6 through 12 games this season.
Chicago is coming off a double-overtime loss against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, and it has a tough back-to-back against a Denver squad that is No. 2 in the NBA in net rating.
Oddsmakers have set the Nuggets as favorites in this matchup, and they are 5-1 against the spread with an average scoring margin of +19.0 in their home games in the 2025-26 campaign.
Let’s take a look at the odds, players to watch in the prop market and my prediction for Monday’s contest.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
Bulls Injury Report
Nuggets Injury Report
Nuggets Best NBA Prop Bet
Earlier today, I shared in SI Betting’s best NBA props column why Jokic is a solid target against this Chicago defense:
This season, Jokic has only cleared this prop in five of his 12 games while taking 16.0 shots per game (his fewest since the 2022-23 season). However, I think he’s in a great spot to clear this line against the Chicago Bulls, who rank 28th in the NBA in opponent points in the paint per game (55.5).
Jokic is shooting the lights out from 2-point range this season (76.8 percent), and he’s knocked down 88.2 percent of his shots between zero and three feet of the basket and 67.6 percent of his shots from three to 10 feet from the basket.
The Nuggets star should have a field day against a Chicago team that was lit up by the Utah Jazz on Sunday and now ranks 19th in the NBA in defensive rating.
This is a great spot for a Denver team that has dominated at home, going 5-1 against the spread at Ball Arena and 9-3 against the spread overall while posting a net rating of +13.0 (second in the NBA).
The Bulls have fallen off after a fast start, losing five games in a row and falling to 1-5 on the road in the 2025-26 season. This is a brutal back-to-back for the Bulls, as they played a double overtime game on Sunday night and ended up losing to the 5-8 Utah Jazz.
Chicago has fallen to 19th in the NBA in defensive rating, and now it has to face the No. 2 offense in the NBA that has a rest advantage coming into this matchup.
Denver has an average scoring margin of +19.0 points at home this season, and I think it could blow out a Chicago team that may sit some players after a marathon game on Sunday.
Pick: Nuggets -14.5 (-108 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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