{"id":556510,"date":"2026-01-23T23:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T23:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/556510\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T23:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T23:26:16","slug":"nuggets-vs-bucks-prediction-nba-friday-picks-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/556510\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets vs. Bucks prediction: NBA Friday picks, odds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting-editorial-standards\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/30\/sports\/nikola-jokic-avoids-the-worst-in-massive-nuggets-injury-update\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets<\/a> head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks on Friday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite missing their superstar, Denver has surprisingly held steady since he went down in late December, going 7-5 heading into Thursday night\u2019s game against the Wizards in Washington, D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s even more unbelievable is that Jokic is far from the only key rotation piece dealing with an injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, and Jonas Valanciunas have also missed time, while Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray are dealing with nagging injuries of their own.<\/p>\n<p>The out-of-nowhere emergence of Peyton Watson has been a major part of the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Watson, a 30th overall pick in the 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting\/nba-betting-sites\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA<\/a> Draft, has been a minor bench piece throughout his young career, but he has come into his own with Jokic sidelined.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 12 games without Jokic on the court, Watson is averaging 22.1 points per game, which is the second-most on the team over that stretch behind Murray.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s doing it with some strong efficiency as well, shooting 49.5 percent overall and 41.9 percent from deep on 5.2 three-point attempts per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38256737\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2256923638.jpg\" alt=\"Giannis Antetokounmpo holding a basketball, wearing a green Milwaukee Bucks jersey.\" class=\"wp-image-38256737\"  \/>Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots a free throw during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 21, 2026, at Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>With several Nuggets questionable for Friday night on the second-half of a back-to-back, Watson should have yet another chance for a big game against a shaky Bucks defense.<\/p>\n<p>Milwaukee has the 10th-worst defensive net rating in the league heading into Thursday\u2019s play.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Betting on the NBA? <\/p>\n<p>Last time these two teams faced off earlier this month, Watson dropped 19 points while making four of his six three-pointers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bet on the quiet emergence of this Nuggets youngster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The play: Peyton Watson over 18.5 points (-110, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting\/draftkings-promo-code\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DraftKings<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He\u2019s particularly knowledgeable about the big three \u2014 MLB, the NFL and the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,212,301,187,3943,121,6,214,302,66,215,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-556510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-betting","10":"tag-denver","11":"tag-denver-nuggets","12":"tag-denvernuggets","13":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-nba-betting","16":"tag-nuggets","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-sports-betting","19":"tag-sports-picks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115947005493448812","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}