Two of the Western Conference’s best teams will battle it out in an NBA Cup group play game at the Toyota Center ahead of the weekend. The Denver Nuggets will visit the Houston Rockets as 3.5-point underdogs on Friday. Both teams are 1-1 in the in-season tournament, and the winner could enter next week leading its group.

Houston has gone 10-1 since it opened the 2025-26 season 0-2. The new-look Rockets have thrived despite Fred VanVleet’s absence, and Kevin Durant has asserted himself as Alperen Sengun’s co-star while Amen Thompson gets his first go at full-time point guard duties. Holding off on three-time MVP Nikola Jokic will be a challenge, though. The Nuggets center appeared poised to set several new career highs after averaging a triple-double last season.

Here’s our full betting breakdown for the game ahead of tip-off.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

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Nuggets Injury ReportRockets Injury Report

Nikola Jokic: Jokic will enter this contest having recorded three consecutive double-doubles. He’s shooting a career-high 64.1 percent from the field and is averaging a career high in rebounds (13.2) and assists (11.1) per game. Sengun is stepping up his game as an all-around center, but Jokic is still performing like the best do-it-all big man in the world while maintaining peak efficiency. 

Denver and Houston are similar in more ways than one from a production standpoint. The Nuggets rank first in the NBA in points per game (124.6) while the Rockets rank second with 123.9 points per contest. Both teams are also extremely efficient on offense. The Nuggets are second only to the Los Angeles Lakers in team field goal percentage, and Houston leads the league in team three-point percentage (42.3 percent). 

Both teams also have top-six defenses, but one key absence could give Houston an edge alongside home-court advantage. Aaron Gordon, who will likely be Durant’s primary defender if healthy, has now missed two games with a lingering hamstring injury. He remains Denver’s most versatile and impactful perimeter defender and is on track to have his best scoring year yet with an average of 20.3 points per game.

The Nuggets will likely be more than a 3.5-point underdog if Gordon is ruled out, so bettors should go ahead and take the fully healthy Rockets against the spread early in this one. 

Pick: Rockets -3.5 (-102 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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