Nuggets vs. Knicks Prediction and Odds for January 29: Jokic, Towns Clash in Battle of MVP-Contending Big Men

The surging Denver Nuggets (28-18) will pay a visit to America’s basketball capital when they take on the New York Knicks (31-16) on Wednesday evening. 

The Nuggets dropped back-to-back games and are 14-10 on the road, but they still won 11 of their last 16 games. 

Meanwhile, the Knicks won four straight games and beat the Nuggets by 27 points when they played at Mile-High on Nov. 25.

Here, we will preview the matchup and share our best Nuggets vs. Knicks betting picks for Wednesday.

Nuggets vs. Knicks Betting Odds for Wednesday, January 29

The Nuggets are 23-22-1 (51.1 percent) against the spread, 12-12 (50 percent) ATS on the road, and 7-5 (58.3 percent) ATS as an underdog.

The Knicks are 24-22-1 (52.2 percent) ATS, 13-10-1 (56.5 percent) ATS at home, and 22-19-1 (53.7 percent) ATS as a favorite.

Nuggets vs. Knicks Prediction

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Denver Nuggets Preview

The Nuggets had a slow start to the season and took some time to find their groove, but they finally hit their stride over the last month and change. 

One of the catalysts in their surge was the insertion of Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup. The team went 18-7 with the former NBA MVP in the starting five, while he averaged 14.6 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Westbrook played well enough to keep Aaron Gordon, a starter on Denver’s championship-winning team of just two years ago, stuck on the bench and averaging a measly 20.8 minutes per gamer in January. 

That’s a drastic change compared to when he played at least 33 minutes in each of the first five games of the season before he was injured and when he averaged 27.6 minutes per night in December. 

The Nuggets posted the second-best offensive rating and are 11th in defensive rating since the calendars turned. Both of those marks represent improvements on their season numbers, which read fourth in offensive and 19th in defensive rating with a +4.4 net rating (seventh).

Denver typically makes its home a fortress, but it’s been solid on the road, averaging a +3.7 point differential per 100 possessions (sixth). That improved to +6.4 with a record of 5-2 on the road in 2025.

The Nuggets’ last nationally-televised game a couple of days ago against the Minnesota Timberwolves was, in many ways, the worst of what they have to offer. Their defense was uninspired and disconnected, which allowed Anthony Edwards to dissect them for 34 points and nine assists in a 29-point loss. 

But while Denver certainly has those types of performances in it, there’s been enough recent improvement to suggest that they will be few(er) and far between.

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New York Knicks Preview

Anyone who’s read our previous Knicks game previews knows our opinion of their offense, which is that it is the easiest on the eye in the league. 

Their combination of dribble-penetration, spacing, slashing, offensive rebounding, finesse, power, foul creation, and individual brilliance puts opposing defenses at NY’s mercy essentially every possession.

There’s been a mild decline in the Knicks’ offensive efficiency in 2025 compared to the year as a whole, but not enough to spark any concerns. They scored 118.4 points per 100 possessions (sixth) in the recent period compared to 119.6 (second) for the year.

The defense has been a similar story, with the team sliding from 112.7 (14th) to 114.3 (19th) in the New Year. The catalyst in that is their abysmal three-point defense, which saw them allow their opponents to shoot 40.9 percent from three compared to 37.7 for the season which, for the record, is still the second-worst mark in the league.

Interestingly enough, the recent decline in defensive efficiency did not result in teams making more threes per game than they did before.

Jalen Brunson is having his best month of the season as a scorer and averaged 27.2 points and 6.6 assists on 50 percent shooting from the field and 40.3 percent from three. Karl-Anthony Towns is still playing at an MVP level and averaged 25.3 points and 14.8 rebounds on 41.3 percent shooting from three to start the New Year.

However, Towns allowed opponents to shoot 51.8 percent from the field as the nearest defender. That’s a high percentage and could spell trouble going against Nikola Jokic, who put up triple-doubles in six of his last seven games and averaged 30 points on 57 percent shooting for the season.

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Nuggets vs. Knicks Betting Pick

• Nuggets vs. Knicks pick: Knicks -3.5 (-105) at BetMGM 

This is a matchup between two of the league’s best offenses who go about their business in completely different ways. While the Knicks normally gain an advantage through their hustle and effort, the potential loss of a questionable Josh Hart and the presence of Westbrook makes that area a bit of a wash.

OG Anunoby went for 40 and Towns dropped 30, while nobody in the Nuggets’ starting lineup scored more than 22 points the last time these teams played. Denver’s defense perked up since then, but they also reverted to their bad habits just a few days ago when they were in the national spotlight.

The Knicks are 16-8 and often blow teams out at home. We’re not expecting another 27-point win, but we’d favor them outright and on the spread.

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How to Watch Nuggets vs. Knicks on 1/29/25

• When: Wednesday, January 29 @ 7:30 p.m. ET

• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

• TV: ESPN

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